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voxsmistress · 4 months

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Mama Didn't Raise No Bimbo - Part Sixteen!

Hello my gorgeous little demons - I am so sorry this took so long to post! These past few weeks have been hell at work! But never fear, I will always get to writing when I can!

Now ... we've had Voxie's turn, it's Valentino's now ;)

Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four / Part Five / Part Six / Part Seven / Part Eight / Part Nine / Part Ten / Part Eleven / Part Twelve / Part Thirteen / Part Fourteen / Part Fifteen / Part Sixteen Trigger Warnings: Sexual themes, no under 18's allowed, sexual shenanigans, second time writing smut (be kind), Val being his usual sarcastic self!

A few days had passed since your little tryst with Vox, and you were slightly embarrassed that the next day after you basically had to spend it all in bed to recover after your late evening with the Overlord. Even more embarrassed when Velvette came to check up on you and ended up laughing her head off when she realised what was going on. Valentino was a little nicer – and by a little you meant he didn’t laugh … straight away.

Anyway, after that one day of recovering you were then back to work, focusing on your social media and the upcoming catwalk for Velvette. Your songs were chosen, outfits being made and all that was left was practicing where and when you were going to sing, prance and walk. And by practice you meant again, and again and again until you had to tell Velvette if she kept making you sing over and over your voice would be in tatters for the show. Did you think she was going to give you a break after that? Your voice, yes. Your body, nope. You were made to walk up and down that catwalk, pose in various (idiotic) poses and dance your way back down the catwalk. Safe to say you were absolutely shattered.

Which is why you were currently lying down on the pink chaise lounge in Velvette’s studio; going over paperwork, the last few outfit designs for the other demons and whether any song choices would work better than the ones you had. Velvette was sat beside you, one hand tapping away on her phone and the other one running her fingers through your hair, tugging on the few tangles that were there making sure you were paying attention and not falling asleep which you were apt to do. What could you say, you loved people playing with your hair.

A grumble and a huff from her stopped you from adjusting the one outfit design and instead to look up at her to see a pissed off look on her face. What has happened now?

“You okay there, babe?” Checking on her, you sit up properly as she shakes her phone annoyed.

“That stupid piss baby is blowing up all our phones having a tantrum, like we have time to deal with his dramatics. Vox is busy which means I am going to have to deal with him and I have a hundred different things to do and I just- “ Turning her phone while she ranted so you can see the masses of messages from Valentino you hold back a sigh. He’d been so good recently it was easy to forget that he was the most dramatic out of the three of them (which if you considered how dramatic they all are is an achievement in itself!)

“Sweets don’t worry, I’ll go and chat with him you keep working on what you need to do” you stand from your seat stretching your back which was aching from being laid funny for so long. Vel argued for a few moments before relenting and passing you your phone from the table, popping a quick kiss on her cheek as you walk round her you wiggle your fingers in a goodbye gesture. Entering the elevator you pressed the button for Valentino’s floor. A quick scroll on your phone you see the various messages from Valentino progressively getting more pissed off when no one was replying. Oops. Piss baby indeed.

A sharp ping distracted you from the messages, shoving your phone into your pocket you enter Valentino’s studio. Up till now you had only made a few trips to his studio, preferring the calmness of Vox’s office, or focusing on the clothes in Velvette’s – Val’s had a completely different vibe which sometimes put you on edge. A few steps into the room you could feel the energy was chaotic already. A Valentino shouting at the two pornstars on the stage was the reason why. Sighing under your breath you could easily see he wasn’t exactly as calm as you would have hoped. Well. Here goes nothing.

Walking towards the Overlord, you nod to a few of the demons who recognised you from around the tower and glared at the ones who give you a bit of attitude who obviously don’t realise who you were. They soon would. Coming to a stop at a ranting Val’s side you watch him snap a few directions at the actors with comments on how they could (should) improve. Before he could yell action, you link an arm through his while whispering up into his ear: “is that how you are going to direct me in bed?” His head twists round so fast his glasses nearly fly off, catching them you grin up at the shocked Overlord. Shocked is definitely better than shouting.

“My amorcito (little love), what are you doing here?” Slipping his glasses properly back on his face, you can’t help but chuckle at his question.

“You ask as if you weren’t blowing up all of our phones continuously for the past hour – I’ve come to check up on you”, as you explain one of his arms wraps around your waist to drag you around the side of his chair, so now you were in front of him.

“You came to check on little ol’ me? I am touched!” His other hand was cupping your face, fingers squeezing your cheeks a little harder than normal reminding you of his festering anger. Your own hand came up to rest on his wrist as you nod, his hand controlling how much movement you had which sent a small tingle up your spine. Okay you had definitely been spending way too much time with the Vee’s because when did you get that sort of kink?

He must have seen something in your expression as his own darkened with a sinister grin, his gold tooth flashing at you. Bringing another hand to your waist he hoisted you onto his lap like you weighed nothing, squeaking at the sudden movement you placed your hands on his arms to steady yourself. He had made sure to place you with your back against his chest and two of his arms stayed wrapped around your waist pressing you closer to him.

“If you want to keep me calm little one, I suggest you stay there and stay quiet, yes?” Agreeing you rested against his chest as he shouted at the actors to start again. Sitting there you kept quiet, but with how Valentino was sat you had the full show of what the actors were doing on the stage. Adverting your gaze, a flush started to raise up your neck to your cheeks more so when you couldn’t help but take a cheeky glance. How on hell do they stay in those positions without breaking a sweat? After a few minutes of that position, Val shouted for them to change. His hands rubbing up and down your waist as well as the scene in front of you was making the jeans you were wearing mighty uncomfortable.

Doing your best to ignore the urge the relieve the pressure, you hesitated before shifting on Valentino’s lap to try and stop the seam of your jeans pressing against your clit. Moving a bit too quick, a gasp escaped your lips as small burst of pleasure flashed through your body. A chuckle against your ear made the blush grow even more. Busted.

“Comfortable Princessa?” His hushed words into your ear made a shiver run down your spine. Another chuckle from him caused you to roll your eyes. Of course he was loving this. Ready to shove his arms away from your waist and storm out, a pair of red wings encasing your body stopped you in your tracks. You hadn’t seen his wings before.

“Now sit still and keep that pretty mouth of yours shut while daddy finishes his work”, you are ready to give him some sarcastic and harsh words, but a quick hand sneaked down the front of your jeans and underwear. Slipping a finger in between your wet lips gathering the wetness up and pressing harshly against your clit made any words you wanted to say to stay stuck in your throat. Gulping back the moan that wanted to escape, you clench your thighs together to try stop him from moving his fingers.

Tutting quietly into your ear, two hands easily push your thighs apart and hold them open while the hand that was down your jeans was alternating between circling your clit and dipping into your tight hole. “Now mi carño, that bratty attitude might work with Voxie, but not with me you understand?” Your concentration was gone with the fingers that were pushing you closer and closer to the edge making you whine under your breath when they came to a stop. Blinking up at him, his free hand wrapped around your neck harshly before giving you a small shake. “Are you that starved for attention little one that you have become dumb as soon as I touch you? I asked you a question!” He snarls down at you, swallowing a groan you try to rack your brains at what he asked you before. It was so hard to think while his fingers were working you so well and that hand around your neck was just helping push you closer to that edge. Bratty. Bratty attitude that was what he asked you.

“I understand Papi” you whisper, hiding your smirk at the dark expression he gave you. A finger driving deeper into you was your retribution for the snarky comment. Worth it. He yanked your body closer to his chest by the hand on your throat, keeping you plastered against him as his other hands kept your legs open and driving you higher and higher.

“Does it turn you on that we are doing this where anyone could see us Y/n? All it takes is for me to move my wings and anyone can see you unravel on my fingers” licking up your neck making a small moan escapes your lips.

“It does, but do you really want others to see me in that position? To see me fall apart at your hands when my reactions should only be reserved for you three Vee’s?” You turn your head to stare into his lensed glare. You knew you were playing with fire. Valentino was the most jealous and possessive of the three, but he was also the most unpredictable. A thrill ran through your body as he growled into your shoulder, biting down on it hard making you groan. Shit that hurt! Removing his teeth, you see his possessive bite mark on your shoulder. The sound he let out was almost a purr as he ran his tongue over the mark, his fingers moving quicker on your clit causing you to slam your head back into his chest and hold back the moans so only a few whimpers fell from your lips.

He laughed at you, shouting a few more orders and commands at the actors being completely at ease while you were falling apart at the seams. So close to the edge you dug your fingers into his arms, whimpers and moans escaping you more often now but you had stopped caring if the other demons could hear. You were so focused on the feeling coursing through your veins you couldn’t give a fuck if the rest of the room heard you scream.

Val did some sort of voodoo move with his fingers that had you cuming without even realising that you had not just hit the edge but had flown off it. The hand that was around your throat was now across your mouth muffling all the moans and shouts as Valentino shouted cut and for everyone to fuck off out of the room.

Twitching and twisting away from his fingers that continued moving, you shook your head at Val. It was too much. Too much. You tried to get your hands down your jeans to stop him, but they were caught by his own.

“My little chulito, you didn’t think I was finished with you yet, did you?”

Fuck!

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shinidamachu · 3 months

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inukag was born to be shipped by me and I was born to ship inukag as well

For ages now I've been meaning to write about the reasons why I ship Inukag as fervently as I do and @inukag-week felt like the perfect opportunity to indulge myself, so here we go.

I want to start with how aesthetically pleasing they are. From their perfect size difference to the complimentary color scheme of their outfits plus contrasting hair and eye colors, Inuyasha and Kagome just look absolutely good together.

Their character design makes it clear from the get go that they're visually a great match. The association is so strong that the audience becomes unable to picture one without the other, as if they're two halves of the same item. Different, yet unequivocally a team, a pair.

Decades ago, they already had that classic quality to them and I bet they'd never get out of style even decades from now. And the rich lore that surrounds the pairing only adds to that aesthetic: the well, the tree, the beads, the robe, the sword, all of it enhances how iconic they are. Even something as ordinary as star gazing becomes uniquelly theirs.

Futhermore, I just absolutely love the entire concept of it. The subvertion of the fairy tale archetype, the idea of a love that transcends time, of soulmates who actually work on building their bond. Loving each other was both inevitable and a choice they made every single day.

Inuyasha and Kagome were just two teenagers from different worlds — literally and figurativelly — discovering together what love was. This made their relationship very compelling, because the excange between them is insanely substancial.

And their overall dynamic is so wholesome. There was a push and pull, a give and take, that made it fluid rather than static. Every single milestone felt organic and kept the audience thirsting for the next one.

Nothing felt forced or rushed. The slow burn was competently written to showcase their relationship being build on a very strong foundation, consistent in intimacy, mutual trust and acceptance — recurring themes for them and for the story — and so the stages of their bond had such a natural pace, it highlighted how genuine and healthy it was.

Consequently, there are so many aspects of their connection to explore. There's a never ending room for angst and for light hearted moments and you can adopt a more mature perspective or go for comical instead: they manage to be versatile without being generic and to embod the best clichés in fiction without becoming one themselves.

It's hard to think of a trope they couldn't pull off or an alternate universe that doesn't work for them. It gives the fandom plenty of freedom to be creative and to have the best time with it.

Plus, their chemistry was off charts. The romantic tension bleed through every single interaction. Their passion is so strong you could feel it even in scenes that had nothing to do with romance. And they didn't even need to kiss to achieve that level of synchrony.

They were also compatible. Inuyasha and Kagome balance each other quite nicely. Even in a relationship, they still keep their individualities and remain interesting both as characters and as a ship.

The very thing that dooms most pairings — opposite personalities — is precisely what keeps them together. Inuyasha and Kagome are completely different from each other, but they're actually extremely similar where it actually matters: their morals and goals.

And they longer they stay together, challenging one another, growing through trials and tribulations, inadvertently learning what each other's needs are and fulfilling them, easing each other's sorrows, covering each other's backs, saving each other's lives in every possible way, learning each other and learning with one another, the more their dichotomy turns into a duality, because they gain a more nuanced perspective of themselves, of each other and of the world.

It's a level of understanding, closeness and respect incredibly difficult to match. And for Inuyasha and Kagome, no one else even came close.

Another thing is that they're not just complementary to each other, but to the story itself. Their romance enhaces the overall plot. It has a structural placement in the wider narrative, strengthening its core themes and fulfilling the characters individual arcs, ultimately resulting in a more compelling journey.

So many romances are disposable to their own story, but Inukag was detrimental to theirs. Inuyasha and Kagome's interactions served as pivotal points of their respective arcs. Taking only the narrative into consideration, their relationship holds a lot of weight and greatly influenced everyone around it and it tied everything together.

That's why their happy ending felt so satisfying: it feels earned because everything went full cycle. All of that symbolism, all of those parallels paid off. Anything different from what we got would simply lack narrative and thematic cohesion.

And even if they didn't end up together, they could never be circumstancial. There was a real reason why they met, a reason why the fell in love and why they had ever lasting impacts on each other's lives regardless. It wasn't just love for love's sake.

This is what makes them, in my opinion, an epic ship.

BONUS: their soundtrack is lit and their quotes are simply legendary.

#Inukag Week #Inukag Week 2024 #Kagome #Inuyasha #Inumeta #Inukag meta #Inuyasha meta #Inukag #Kagome Higurashi #Excuse the dramatic title I just couldn't help myself

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felassan · 2 months

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Thoughts on the DA:TV reveal trailer from June 9th. DA:TV spoilers under cut.

this post is rly late, ik hh ◕‿◕

General and some random stuff

It's important to bear in mind what the trailer advised at the bottom, which is that the trailer is "game engine footage" and that "not all images appear in game".

Overall I really liked the trailer and it made me feel super excited!! I thought it was cool. the general more light-hearted tone of it and the music choice weren't what I would've guessed or expected, but they were interesting choices. I was a bit [dog cocking head from side to side in confusion] in the early portion hh, but it really came together for me all chills n stuff with the 'rise of Rook'-kinda shot and the group fight scene at the end, by which point I was overwhelmed with excitement, all the new stuff it had shown and the prospect of going back to Thedas fr to the point that I was teary lmao (don't look at me). I think as well the subsequent gameplay reveal video was more representative of the tone that the game will have, and that DA has.. previous [affectionate] for slightly ?? trailers and portions of the marketing. (remember the DA:O-era Marilyn Manson 'This Is the New Shit' metal trailers with like blood splattering all over the place & screen like strawberry jam fountains and stuff and the male Cousland who inexplicably looks about 40-50 years old? hhh. yea).

I think it looked great ^^ it's very pretty and detailed, it has cool art.

I also dug the sound design, like when there were sound effects like Venatori drawing swords and stuff (as a random example), it was just very crisp and satisfying

Trailer song

I'm so curious to know who the cover/rearrangement of "Heroes" is by and to be able to listen to it in full sometime. Do you think it's simply music for the trailer, or that it's part of the game OST? Didn't DA2's have some Florence and the Machine on it for example?

Interesting to note that "Heroes" is about two lovers from different sides. "Under constant fear of death, they dream they are free, swimming with dolphins". the song "represents two opposing forces", a sense that they will be separated, and the idea that love can endure or overcome anything (umm Var lath vir suledin? 😭). it brings to mind the idea of two people on opposite sides of something as parted friends or star-crossed lovers or something like that.

I also think this is interesting: "Bowie placed the [song] title in quotation marks as an expression of irony on the otherwise romantic or triumphant words and music". When Solas raised the Veil, he saved his people and the world but also doomed his people and destroyed the world - he is an ironic and sad/tragic hero. In a previous trailer, he says [to Rook probably] in a non-positive, almost bitter tone, "They call me The Dread Wolf. What will they call you, when this is over?" It sounds like he thinks (knows..) that though Rook may save the day now, they could poetically end up like him, a mirror of him - hated for it after the fact, or a big damn hero that sadly no-one knows about (remember in Mass Effect when Kirrahe says "We are trained for espionage. We would be legends, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way"? remember when Mark Darrah said that at one point or other, the 'vision statement' for DA4 was "We would be heroes, but the records are sealed"?), or being a hero at great personal cost to themself, or saving the world from one issue but inadvertently setting off another or causing great collateral damage or something like that. a "hero", but an ironic one in some form or other. it's argued by some that despite its sound, "Heroes" is not a feel-good anthem per se:

Describing the song, [Bowie] stated it is about "facing reality and standing up to it", about achieving "a sense of compassion" and "deriving some joy from the very simple pleasure of being alive". Likewise, Pegg contests the song contains underlying dark themes that juxtapose its uplifting chord sequence and delirious vocal [...] while the repeated announcement of "nothing will keep us together" asserts that time is short. Regarding the themes, Lurie stated: 'alchemy: We may be average and regular in the present moment, but we have the potential, at any time, for heroic thought and action – even if only for one day. The transformation can be brought about by an external event or through an internal change in perspective'."

Purple and bronze

My favs <3 :)

People we've met before

We knew Lucanis wasn't really dead

I really liked the focus of the trailer and its accompanying text blurb on the cast of characters, a thing which is a mainstay focus of Dragon Age and something that people really love about it. The trailer gives the impression that the game is about Rook becoming a leader, the leader of this specific A-Team crew; the relationships between them and the crew members; all their unique and complimentary strengths and personal storylines as woven into the main plot; and working as a team to defy the odds.. together. the old lesson of, if we work together, we have the power to resist and triumph. real The Power of Friendship, Found Family-vibes, yknow? 🥺 I really liked this line "Create memories with your team which will deepen your experiences and give you more to fight for." (Dates and friend dates with them please). In ME, Liara can ask Shepard what she's fighting for, and if it's a chance to give Garrus peace. Shepard can reply that Garrus has been hurt and betrayed, and that she would like to offer him something better. that's the sort of thing that that line makes me think of.

I also get the impression that yeah, the DA:TV prologue/lead-in comic Dragon Age: The Missing was definitely originally intended to end not long temporally irl before DA:TV marketing content of this kind came out. like if you read The Missing then immediately watch this trailer, you can see what they may have been trying to go for in that comic and how they connect together. The Missing ends with Varric and Harding in Minrathous, and in this trailer, here they are in Minrathous. At the time of The Missing, I wondered:

this sounds like it’ll be Varric’s role in DA:D, right? The person who puts together the new Team, but not a companion per se. so… Varnick Fury? he recruits us? maybe the various characters Varric and Harding meet in this comic series are part of the wider team in DA:D, contacts, folks we meet?

and

D] highlight these four groups/factions and introduce the two new ones (Veil Jumpers and Shadow Dragons) in advance of DA:D. [...] Certainly if I was Varric at the moment when Harding asks “So who are you thinking?” at the end here, after the events I had experienced and people & groups I had met in recent weeks, with those being fresh in my mind, I would be thinking about the Grey Wardens, the Antivan Crows, the Veil Jumpers and the Shadow Dragons, both as groups and terms of the mental list of people that I had recently met who Solas doesn’t know. again it makes you think about the popular speculation that the DA:D PC will have the background of being from one of these groups.

this trailer and subsequent marketing materials since then have indeed detailed that Varric is not a companion, that he recruited Rook, that the devs were kinda thinking of an 'Avengers'-type team, that Neve (appeared in The Missing) is a companion, that Rook can be a Warden, Crow, Veil Jumper, or Shadow Dragon (among other things), that those factions are all important in the storyline of the game, that the companions include a Warden, a Crow, a Veil Jumper, and a Shadow Dragon, and that the crew will also have contact with non-companion NPCs who will be "faces" of their respective factions!! like we don't know for sure that the 'face' NPC[s] of the Veil Jumpers will be Strife and Irelin or one of them, but we do know thanks to Game Informer that e.g. Strife and Irelin do appear in the game as NPCs. When Harding asks Varric in The Missing "So who are you thinking?", it mirrors the trailer, where Varric asks Harding "What are you thinking?" after she states that this will take more than just the two of them.

A fun fact about the trailer is that the 'most replayed' segment is the Lucanis and Bellara part. the people know what they want hh.. ^^

Opening segment: Venatori, Varric, Harding

The trailer begins with a view of Docktown, Minrathous, just from a bit of a different angle to the one in that screenshot. the now-familiar floating castle is in the sky. I guess the bright green light on the docks in the trailer version of this scene is one of Minrathous' magical neon shop signs, specifically one above the door of the building on the docks that you can see here (albeit it's unlit there because it's daytime/or at least not overcast). it's foggy/misty, with a general moody vibe. Varric and Harding are in a bar. I think the bar they're in is through the doorway with the neon green light above it, and I wonder if that bar is this one.

Are the carved creatures with human heads and wings in the foreground statues on the nearest shore (where the 'pov' is standing) or carved prows of ships in the harbor? they remind me of harpies or angels. have we seen these assets before in DA? in-world were they based on a Thedosian creature?

[points] repeating rings/concentric circles

this bit reminds me of the different shapes and patterns here. (around 'Level 30', around '0 points available', and the skill tree itself both in terms of design and the pattern behind it)

Who doesn't love a good Mass Effect-style lens flare? :D somehow these always make me feel nostalgic.. this bit reminds me of an eclipse (of which much could be said in the context of DA and DA:TV..) or other astrological event, or like an event horizon or something.

These guys are Venatori Soldiers. Compare with those in the gameplay reveal video. they even attack in a big group of guys in the trailer the way they do in gameplay, Power Rangers badguys-style (a Venatori classic..). ^^

What's the deal with some of their weapons being red btw?

It's giving red lyrium, it's giving red lyrium blade like Certainty (two), it's giving the vibe of the red lyrium weapons pack, it's giving general Venatori fuckery (they have messed with red lyrium stuff for their own nefarious ends several times before).

the symbol on their foreheads is also familiar.

It shows up in Dragon Age: Absolution.

(from here) the flag scene on the right is seen during Hira's flashback when the Venatori killed her family as an example, punishing them for helping those less fortunate in Tevinter. so it seems like the Venatori have a new symbol and a new look in the post-DA:I material, right? like irl art direction/art updates-wise. just, in-world, they actually were using it in the past, as we can see it in the Hira flashback, at which point she was a child, long before the time of the Inquisition forming. unless this is a specific faction or offshoot of Venatori..?

I'm not sure that it actually is or not, but when I see this type of thing I also think about red lyrium shards. also, some of them have lil spiky shoulder blades -

which reminds me of that 'hostile architecture' vibe Tevinter architecture and designs of stuff have going on, like the spikes on the back of the chairs here. and I wonder if the guy with the red face covering is the leader of this particular squad?

When it pans out to this shot, we get a good look at the bar and also it's clear what a bunch of cowards the Venatori are. What is this, like, 7 on 2 at least.. but it was actually more than that in the beginning because Varric and Harding have already laid several Venatori soldiers out flat on the ground (I count at least 3 there and 1 flat on the bar lol). 11+ v 2 LOL. there are also a couple of injured but not KO'd people crouching who could be more injured Venatori, or else just innocent bar patrons who got in the way. in the background you can see what looks like a hookah, which we have seen in northern Thedas before. also, at this point, Rook is right there, sitting there all casual and nonchalant at a table over by the window, with their hood up and their back to the fight hh. the other thing that strikes me about this shot is the intricate patterns on the rug and how beautiful the lighting is - all those shafts of sunlight and candle/firelight and stuff.

Bar fights are such a fantasy, D&D-type classic. I wonder if this bar is the Swan, the tavern Corinne mentioned as being in Minrathous which has good tavern music? or if it's the same bar as where the game starts off, where Rook has the choice of intimidating a bartender or not? an article also mentioned a pub in the streets of Minrathous which has a dozen NPCs in it and which is reached via a wide, winding pathway. (probably at least two of these various bar/pubs are actually the same one being described/shown in a different way hh.) the Venatori try to look all menacing and the barperson, understandably, tries to scuttle out the way.

Bianca looks great and has had a glow up. the carved patterns are so pretty, and with the eyepieces and stuff she looks almost steampunky or Fable-y. which makes her subsequent demise at Solas' hands in the gameplay reveal video all the sadder. 🥺 we can also see at this point that at Varric's belt, he wears a symbol of the Inquisition, even though it's been around 8 years.. 🥺 as in The Missing, you can also clearly see that Varric has been aging. he looks old and tired, he has more of a beard, and his hair is thinning and graying. this look of his, including the outfit and scarring around his eye, iirc first appeared in Issue 2 of The Missing.

I wrote then of that,

he looks Older and more tired, and also maybe redesigned (outfit, scar etc). if this comic is set around 9:52 or shortly beforehand, he’s over 50 years old now since he was born in 9:1. according to this tweet of Fernando’s, it wasn’t Fernando who did a redesign, BioWare had sent along the reference for Varric for this comic. are we looking at Varric’s DA:D Era (Dad Era..) Redesign? is this how he’ll look in DA:D?

and it seems we were, and it seems it is! :D

When the shot cuts to Harding, we can see that the bar has a roaring fire (tho I question the heat efficiency of this with a wide open door :D). I like the symmetry of having Varric and Harding both shoot one Venatori each with their bow/crossbow at this point. Harding is in her new gear, the new look that appeared in The Missing. She looks so good! I love all the detailing on her and Varric's clothes, like the fur parts at their collar and shoulders (which up here in Tevinter seems so quaintly southern, Fereldan-y hh). my heart skips a beat when Harding whips her head around and blows her bangs out her face. 🥰 the motion of her and Varric's hair is soo goood (and for stuff like Harding's cape whipping around), and look at the detailing of her braided updo!!

Mid bar-fight, when despite being mid-fight Varric reaches for a tankard and Harding summarily takes it off him.. it reminded me of this panel from The Missing #2. at that time, I thought,

“food poisoning” ye sure okay bud. at the end of issue 1, Varric was after a stiff drink. this panel is a smart bit of continuity from that. [but] on a serious note though I hope Varric is doing okay like, and this was just a hangover after a celebration like he says, rather than part of his recent tired/sad/kinda strugglin vibe. otherwise coupled with his older tireder more haggard look it reminds me a bit of Ser Aaron. [and it's] sad to think about [anyone going through or struggling with that] :( (RIP Aaron...)

and the tankard moment in this trailer reminded me of that worry again. Varric, buddy... are you okay 😭

It's so funny (in a good way) when Harding in the background uses her bow like a freakin baseball bat to level a guy while in the foreground Varric is like 'yea it's fine, she got this' because he knows she can handle herself hh. and like, yea, in these few seconds Harding takes out three dudes herself. Varric is still looking forlornly at his now-empty hand when she's smacking a guy clean across the face with the mug. Harding.. make it rain!! :) bad guys drop to the floor and the sparkly effects of spilled drink both fall around her. also, does it look to anyone else that on the front of a pouch Harding wears on her front, there's the eyeball Scout-or-Inquisition symbol, like how there is on her bow? then Varric is like. 'okay, I'm listening'. :D

Neve

We see Neve meeting someone in a Minrathous backstreet. the setting here reminds of the Minrathous streets in the gameplay reveal, of this concept art and of this scene from a previous trailer. it's raining at night and she's meeting them - an informant or contact etc - at a specific time and place in a secluded area to make some sort of trade. they show her the goods and she offers them a pouch of what is presumably coin

from how the Venatori talk about Neve in the gameplay reveal, and maybe even a lil based on how this 'contact' (who is actually trying to rob her or maybe even trying to complete a hit/kill contract on her) is dressed, I wonder if this person was Venatori or one of their agents?

Neve's saunter made me weak in the knees. she seems so confident and capable. she has great instincts/reflexes, which makes sense for a character who investigates alone on the night streets; she saw the attacker's feint (and their real goal all along) coming straightaway. you can't get one over on Neve

In the final triumphant shot of her, when she holds the item aloft, she's got one foot on the felled person, who is lying on the ground hh

I appreciated the attention paid to the sound effects of her footsteps! it's like there's a metal clinking sound when she steps with her metal leg.

She does her specialty, ice magic, and ice magic looks so lovely - a bright white light coming from it, snowflakes floating all around

though I know it's probably more like, this was her planned design and the comic artist was given BW's reference for her, I love how faithfully Neve's complicated, fashionable design was carried over from the comics into this trailer/vice versa/matches in each!! e.g. the toe of her boot, her leg, all the details of her overcoat, the shape of her snake-belt, everything

Also her mannerisms match too! the spell she does here, with its staff-less magic and both hands coming forward with a burst of ice magic, is exactly like she does in the comics. :D (on the right below). I just think that's such a thoughtful touch.

I'm rly curious about the item that she was after. the red shard-type thing reminds me of red lyrium, and at this point a red gem-like thing set in golden metal surrounds remind me of the Venatori. those are different shapes of course, but see above with regards to: the red and gold symbols on the foreheads of the Venatori guys who attack Varric and Harding in the bar; the red and gold brooch or clasp thing from Absolution; and the red and gold symbol of the Venatori on their banners in Hira's flashback in Absolution.

What is it, and why was she after it? the other thing it reminds me of is the round enchanted clay discs from her TN short story, The Streets of Minrathous. they were seals to the demon's prison (the one that is under Minrathous) and involved blood magic. (this is red and gold though so it doesn't super-match tho, as if I remember right the seals in TN were described as being seated in polished black shell on gold chains, with a long, thin, 4-winged dragon etched on the front that was rising out of a dark sea..)

Another thing to notice here is when Neve's name's splash text comes up, what look like orange-red leaves blowing in the wind blow across the screen. this imagery repeats in a few of the other companion segments.

Lucanis

He assassinates a target in a crowded, beautiful, colorful and busy marketplace. Do you think this is Antiva, Tevinter or somewhere else? ^^ the target is frantic, he knows he's in danger and that he's being chased/watched (makes sense, 'The Demon' has a reputation); but Lucanis is so stealthy that he has no idea where he is. Lucanis is quick and deadly.

the orange-red leaves swirl around in the air

on the back of Lucanis' outfit we can see the purpley wing motif and the patterning of many eyes (more thoughts on that here), these are placed really prominently in this trailer.

Again the detailing of hair movement, clothes etc is awesome! Even the back of the target's cloak is all bejewelled and detailed.

Lots of NPCs in the crowd. peer around at their hairstyles just in case they're among those that are available in the CC for Rook :D we also now know that we will be able to re-create NPCs like these in the CC, as it was used to make them all.

Who do we think the target is? they are a human man. is he simply a random person to showcase Lucanis' assassin-ness for the purposes of the trailer, or meant to indicate a person from a particular group or faction? can we infer anything from the design of his clothes? the red pointy spike on his shoulder pad for example kind of reminds me of that of some Venatori (see above in barfight segment). and in general he seems well-dressed, and maybe his outfit has a sort of mage-y vibe. a higher-up Venatori? a bad magister? we know Lucanis has been going around taking contracts to kill prominent Venatori from TN, and that he was intending to do more of these jobs.

It's a mixed crowd, there are humans present and you can also see elves, qunari and dwarves. :) (please ignore the top right hand corner of the image below, I guess a copy-paste failed and I didn't notice at the time hh).

After the target knocks someone over by mistake, an angry guy behind him gesticulates, understandably annoyed.

Lucanis catches and kills him in one fluid motion. I would let Lucanis assassinate me

Grabs em by the face hh (makes sense, he then covers their mouth so they can't scream and draw attention I guess - it's the middle of a crowded marketplace after all)

mullet singing magnificently in the wind

lil crowfeather-like hair tufts sticking out

And he snaps his neck rather than stabbing with one of his knives or swords (and he is wielding one in this encounter). I guess it's more efficient and quick in this instance than stabbing. it also makes less of a mess. :D The setting and dialogue line for this segment is smart too - Lucanis kills this person by leaping out of the shadows/where he was hiding into the broad daylight, and kills them when it's light outside hh.

Bellara

an ancient elven ruin in Arlathan (Forest or Crater). birds fly overhead. I love the lighting and all the greenery :)

the orange-red leaves continue to fall in Bellara's segment too. they aren't a surprise here of course, the gold/orangey 'omg it's Arlathan/the Veil[Jumper] archer place from old concept art' trees are in Arlathan, where this segment is set, but they also crop up in the trailer in e.g. Minrathous in Neve's segment, in Lucanis' segment. they're a nice continuous aesthetic linking the scenes together ^^ We also see them on the Golden City version of the DA vinyl cover art, twining through the dragon's wings and growing among the buildings, in a way connecting this foliage to the Fade.

the design of the place reminds me a bit of the bridge at the Temple of Mythal in DA:I. I wonder if this ruin was a temple or palace in the past, and if so, to/of whom?

it's so beautiful and makes me feel really excited to explore ancient elven ruins and Arlathan :)

the two startled halla look so pretty

interestingly, the black bird that flies near the halla looks like a corvid - making you think of rooks, and Rook.

green Fade-y light gathers in the archway and our Veil Jumper's official proper introduction, fittingly, has her leaping out of the Fade[?], or otherwise leaping through part of the Veil :D Bellara's segment is so fun and I love that for her and us. when she first appears, she looks so happy and thrilled to be on the adventure that she's on here.

in her hand she grasps her prize, which I guess she's just taken from wherever she was - a gold-colored triangley thing (so, a piece of ancient elven tech or another ancient elven artifact). when she gets caught and pulled back into the portal, she drops it and it falls out of her hands.

👁️ Now, about the tentacles. from previous materials like the short story Ruins of Reality and DA: The Missing, we know that in Arlathan, space and time, and reality, has been warping. the Veil is thin and wild, wacky stuff is going on in there. there are Veil Bubbles. the Fade is a mess close to Solas' ritual and demons are coming through, etc. the tentacles in this segment are very interesting indeed 👀 Veil Jumpers are also being attacked by tentacles in this DA4 concept art. here's another DA4 concept art with a tentacled monster in it. I wonder where Bellara was jumping from? a different pocket of reality in Arlathan or elsewhere? a place "in-between"? from a Veil Bubble? the tentacles also reminded me a lot of the Cekorax. it was a big tentacled monster that Dorian hired Hollix to kill in Minrathous. in that TN story, Dorian recalls that a Mortalitasi once told him of "things past the Veil of our world, neither demon nor spirit"...

Emmrich

Cut to Emmrich in the Grand Necropolis in Nevarra. See the bottom of this post for thoughts on the final shot of the Emmrich segment.

Digging up a lot of buried secrets.. it's giving the mysteries of the Grand Necropolis (the lowest reaches of it are quite ancient), and it also makes me think of secrets in the Deep Roads, Descent-style 👁️

The pov at the start of Emmrich's segment has the camera inside the chest (or coffin-type thing, since the skeleton seems to rise from it a few seconds later) these two people are opening and looking inside. the lore says that the geography of the lower parts of the Necropolis varies and changes, producing a disorienting effect on visitors which has successfully prevented robbery attempts. but we can probably assume from location and context cues that these people are looters or grave robbers right? you could imagine grave goods and other treasures/loot to be found in the elaborate Nevarran crypts. (and, some of the wealthiest Nevarrans decorate their crypts with their most prized possessions.) Emmrich is a Mourn Watcher, a member of an order which serves as guardians and keepers of the sacred Necropolis. so it makes sense to see him foiling an attempted graverobbing :) [disrespectful of the departed anyway, but especially so in a culture where their death-related practises are kinda sacred to them like Nevarra]

I wonder if the people are just random petty thieves created for the purposes of the trailer, or if they represent members of a specific group/'speak' of a particular plot-thread? like I could imagine e.g. some Lords of Fortune or something wanting to loot a storied tomb full of walking dead, for treasure and glory.

the way Emmrich casts his magic here, he reminds me of a pianist or a composer. he's so calm and composed.

he's behiiiind youuu, Pantomime-style hh :)

when the splash text appears on-screen, in the bottom right you can see a fire burning - looks to be one of the robbers' dropped torches, which is a fun touch.

Davrin

I really love Davrin's design and I'm super curious to know which Creators' vallaslin designs he and Bellara have. he's so calm in battle, you get the sense that he's a skilled warrior for sure and I immediately trust him with my life. like Harding and Varric in the bar fight, he's holding off loads of enemies just him (well, him and Assan ^^).

He's fighting darkspawn which have been afflicted by red lyrium. (here's the "red lyrium darkspawn" for real too). as if regular darkspawn and the threat of being Tainted by contact with them wasn't enough, now you need to be careful of their red lyrium claws and the spread of red lyrium and stuff too. look how gross they look from behind.

In the background is a statue of a griffon, so I think Davrin is fighting in a Warden-related area. there are stone structures around and you can see some banners (albeit, not with Grey Warden symbols on them from what I can see).

It's dark and all around are the signs of the Taint - the darkspawn themselves, the dead gnarled trees, the corrupted tendrils, things which look like they could be Blight pustules/sacs, etc. I think the Davrin scene is set in the same location as this screenshot (which as it happens, also features Davrin!):

in the bottom left of this screenshot you can see water, and in the trailer, Assan runs past a boat. plus the other stuff looks the same too. and being that it's apparently a Warden-y location (griffon statue), I think that it's maybe the surrounds (or.. remains..?) of Weisshaupt in the Anderfels, and I definitely think it's the same place as here from the DA Day 2023 trailer:

- as the rock, lighting, structures, red lyrium etc all match up. Remember the line from that trailer, "Grey Wardens don’t hide in our castle. I won’t ask good soldiers to turn tail and run"? chat, it's not looking good rn for the Grey Wardens or for Weisshaupt (ctrl-F "Weisshaupt" in this post, and see also this post, for more on this topic.)

when the big red lyrium darkspawn charges forward, it knocks over one of the small ones hh.

Cut to Assan. good boy Assan!! he's already taken out at least one darkspawn by himself over there and we see him sitting on it hh. I wonder if Assan will join us in battle if we select Davrin as one of the 2 companions? it looks like he and Davrin have a close bond - he knows what move Davrin is thinking of just by how Davrin looks over at him. :) he's a strong baby - when he leaps on the big darkspawn he knocks it right over all by himself from the force of the impact. I love Assan's model and I think he's so cute oml 🥺 the way his ears perk up when Davrin looks at him 🥺... his big blue eyes like a husky or something.. the way he's kinda rangy and a bit scraggly like a puppy in the 'teen' stage where they're kinda tall and leggy but haven't really filled out yet 🥺 the lil whinny and squeaky roar he makes. HIS LYNX-LIKE EAR TUFTIES...

The shield-launching move is so fun and cool :D I think it's my favorite shot in the whole trailer. I just love Davrin, the relationship depicted here between Davrin and Assan, the trust and fun in that moment, the bond between them. and when he launches Assan here, Davrin looks so joyful and happy, it's nice :)

On Assan - is he one of the thirteen griffon hatchlings Valya discovered in 9:42 Dragon? or is he from a subsequent clutch? it's about 9:52 now, the question is how long does it take for a griffon to reach maturity? ^^

I also really wanna know more about Davrin. :D like Bellara and Taash, he hasn't appeared in prior DA secondary media like a comic or story so we don't have insight into him from something like that. we got quite a bit of insight into Bellara as a character in the Game Informer cover story (how we meet her, her personality etc) and a few lil snippets about Taash have come out here and there from social media (though I'd also really like to know more about Taash!). I'm dying to know more about Davrin too!! how did he come to join the Wardens, what motivated him to do that? what Dalish clan is he part of (is it a known one or a new-to-us one?), and where did they tend to roam? was he specifically entrusted with the care of Assan as a Warden assignment, was it more happenstance that he came into his care, or did Assan when he was a lil baby see Davrin one day and kinda be like "yea that is my guy" (griffons chose their riders by themselves, not the other way around) ((also. valid))? what does Davrin think of the possible Grey Warden civil war, the First Warden, the Hero of Ferelden? how long has he been a Grey Warden for, and how far is he from his Calling? what are some random lil trivia factoids about him? does he travel around killing other monsters in addition to darkspawn and saving people from them, and that's how he made his name as a monster hunter ("monster hunter" is giving a lil Witcher-vibe to me, and the voiceover line here anyways implies that Davrin also fights demons)? ◕‿◕

Also at this point is a neat transition to darkness. back in the bar, Harding and Varric are fighting back to back, a trope I am a sucker for hh.

Taash

(reverb womp womp womp sfx like a giant boomerang is being thrown :D)

"We'll need someone with fire in their blood" [to face dragons]. I know what this conveys (fight fire with fire, Taash is badass, brave, bold in the face of danger, will fight dragons etc) but I also thought this was an inchresting choice of line for Taash's segment.. Iron Bull once said "So, when you face a dragon, does it get your heart pumping? Do you breathe a little faster, feel the blood racing?" When qunari Inquisitor speaks to Old God Soul Kieran, he tells them: "I noticed your blood. It doesn't belong to your people." Corypheus taunts Adaar, "What do they call you? A qunari? Your blood is engorged with decay! Your race is not a race, it is a mistake!" In some scenarios, Corypheus can say of Adaar that they are "a beast of strange blood". and some believe that the Tamassrans cultivate dragon blood within the Qunari. so 👁️..

Some thoughts on Taash's design. (so I don't repeat myself too much. I link to each post in that series btw, one for each companion, at the end of this post).

Taash's segment is set on the Rivain Coast (two). you can see the palm trees, beach, bright blue waters, the skeleton of a large dead creature, that statue in the background, etc. fittingly she's fighting a dragon and there's fire everywhere :) I wonder if the Rivain Coast locale is where we will recruit Taash. she isn't among the characters (like Neve) who Varric knew prior to the start of the game; at the timepoint he speaks his Taash line in the trailer, he doesn't know her.

omg, the physics on Taash's braid! :D it looks like the gold cuffs on her horns have an eye symbol carved on them. dear Taash, please tell me the story behind each shiny trophy that you wear. 🙏 in addition to the dragonscale-looking parts of her armor, it looks to me like on her gauntlets there are also teeth (assumedly dragonteeth). love that for her. and as she gets up to charge forward, she does a small smile or smirk to herself. she's havin a great time fighting a dragon :D the heat-warping effects from the fire are cool too.

When Taash's splash text appeared on screen, it was at this point (the last one lol..) that I realized there were different effects on the companions' name texts. Harding has horizontal lines through hers, like the flightpath of arrows. the bits in Neve's could be chunks of ice. Lucanis' looks scratched/slashed, as if by daggers. Bellara's contains the floating triangle pieces that indicate ancient elven magitech. maybe Emmrich's is the particle effects of his necromancy? Davrin's could be slash marks from a sword or claw marks from a griffon's talons. and Taash's is all burning and on fire, with dragon-looking claw marks. smart!!

check this out in the background, the rock structure which looks like a head with pointed teeth -

it's the same structure as in this shot of Rivain from the DA Day 2023 trailer.

only in Taash's scene, she's on the beach and the teeth-rock structure is in the background, whereas in this shot, the POV is like you're standing under the jagged overhang, looking out from the jaws of the 'beast'. in the 'in jaws' shot you can even see the beach Taash may be fighting on, it's the area with the big skeleton on the shore. when we saw this shot in the DA Day trailer, it reminded us of teeth, and now that we can see the rock shape from another angle, it really does look like the maw of a great dragon-y creature, with fangs on the top and bottom jaws. the placement of this in Taash's segment interests me because there is also the suggestion of a dragon-y creature with teeth in the background of her card art. ^^

I also wonder if we can identify what type of dragon it is here from the dragon's design? ^^

When Taash leaps through the air, you can hear her yelling. :D at this point it looks to me like this is the same place as in this screenshot of Rivain Coast that came out later. you can see the big skeleton ribs, the campfire, the wall, and the hanging line thing. it's just from a different angle.

Rook and back in the bar

Do you think the Rook shown in this trailer is the 'default' Rook for marketing, like mage dude Hawke in DA2? And/or the Rook from the gameplay reveal video? you can see a lil bit of their face in this trailer.

dae get the feeling that when Varric says "This crew needs a leader. Someone we can count on" he might be thinking of Hawke? not to suggest as the leader of this crew (remember how he gave the Inquisition the run around to protect Hawke when they were looking for them), but just like, he's thinking back to a different place, a different time, a different crew, a different found family. 20 years ago in Kirkwall, his home, when he was part of Hawke's gang and they sheltered all the DA2 misfits (affectionate) under their wings. a reality he hasn't inhabited for ~10 years now. 🥺 "Someone that the world can count on" takes me back to his line to Cassandra in her interrogation, "The entire world is on the brink of war. And you need the one person who can help you put it back together". And it also has me wondering if by that point he's also thinking of the Inquisitor, another leader that he followed, a leader that saved the world. 🥺

Varric also understands the importance of a good leader as the core of a group, of the power of bringing friends together around someone great. a lesson he learned at Hawke's side, then later solidified or emphasized at the Inquisitor's. then, with "But where are we gonna find...?" he's probably going through the factions he and Harding encountered in DA: The Missing in his head at this point, but I also feel like he's rotating the leader-hero blorbos he keeps in his head and scrolling through them. Hawke? [if not left in the Fade]. Absolutely not, the world has taken too much from them already and he just wants to protect his friend. The Inquisitor? Won't work [for the literal leadership role], at this point they know they need to find someone that Solas doesn't know. and it doesn't even occur to him that he himself could lead the new crew. for one thing, Solas knows him obviously, and he's tired, but for another, Varric knows he's the storyteller, just a character in other peoples' stories, a follower, not a leader (of that kind). its a lil meta but it (and the rest of the stuff I said here) is also just 🥺.. when you think about Varric's life and what's happened in it.

Where in the opening segment, Rook was there chillin sitting all casual at a table by the window in the bar, they've now gotten up and started laying into Venatori themselves. (contrasing with e.g. the bartender, who ran out of the way, and other bar patrons who stand around in the background during the fight at various points or are seen floored. you can see why Rook specifically attracts Harding's attention at this point.) it's so funny [pos] - Varric and Harding are now staring thoughtfully into the fire discussing their plan in a circle of KO'd Venatori, Varric with his hands on his hips, meanwhile Rook has taken the heat off them and fends off a gang of Venatori by themselves. and the Venatori are back to trying to like, 6v1 someone. Oh Venatori dudes, you're so retro Power Rangers badguys. Rook only came out here for a quiet drink, and they are feeling so attacked right now.

Varric and Harding conducting a demon-summoning Heroic Leader[™]-summoning ritual

The unconscious/dead Venatori on the bar is still there on the bar. Rook lays someone else out on a table. Harding hears the commotion behind her and slowly turns around. Venatori flail towards Rook. Rook, backlit all cool, smashes two of their heads together silly-style (pos) and then steals their stuff (a sword). Rook pistol-whips a guy in the face with the handle of one of their own swords. Rook then launches themselves off a bench (floored Venatori in the background), yeeting the Venatori on their back (floored-table Venatori also in the background) into the bar, then elbows them in the face. Harding, understandably, falls in love (I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream..). Varric isn't aware of what's going on yet, either because he's so lost in thought reminiscing about his glory days with Hawke and/or because maybe his hearing is going a lil in his old age. Harding makes bedroom eyes at Rook.

Five Venatori then run at Rook (haha.. these fuckin guys :D). At first I was like wait, where did this wave come from? but if you look around Varric and Harding's feet at this point, the Venatori that were laid out in a circle around them are no longer on the ground - so that's a nice touch, that it's the same ones who got back up to have another go. Rook executes the swashbuckling action-adventure trope of cutting a rope to drop a chandelier, crates or other objects on some bad guys, which is fun. this bar patron (hit the image limit on this post hh) with the magnificent feathery collar is unfazed and just enjoying their drink. Harding's cape whips as she turns around; Harding is paying ATTENTION. The Venatori tackle and swarm on top of Rook like they're playing rugby. The chandelier drops. The Venatori are taken out. Harding is like 'wake up grandpa, get with the program'. Varric turns ("HUH?") and then, understandably, also falls in love. Varric makes bedroom eyes at Rook.

And then Rook rises (backlit, among flames and from the heap of a whole football team of Venatori that they KO'd themselves), and also rises. at the same time the music is crashing to a crescendo and the song says "We can be heroes". :D And at this point I'm feeling a bit unhinged over trees, but it looks to me like some of the particles floating around at this point are the orange-red leaves again hh.. Having no "Rook" splash text at the Rook-focus segment makes sense, they aren't a companion and while they are always "Rook", that isn't their name and of course they are the player-defined character of the bunch. I really like the shot where they look over their shoulder, back at Harding, Varric, and the pov.

looping back to the question I first asked in the 'Rook' section of this post, in this trailer it looks like Rook is wearing this outfit, which is also the outfit Rook (there a Shadow Dragon Rook) wears in the gameplay reveal trailer. So I think we can surmise that the Rook in the character reveal trailer is a Shadow Dragon Rook (and a rogue too, as in the gameplay reveal). I wonder if this Rook, this Shadow Dragon Rook, is sort of the 'default' Rook for marketing? or whether in the next trailer, they have a different Rook?

About Rook's clothing in this trailer. it looks similar (e.g. hood shape, presence of a hood, diamond-quilt-like pattern in places, the diamond-shape pattern on the shoulder, etc) to this figure on a Minrathous street from the 2020 trailer, who I assume is a Shadow Dragon or Shadow Dragon Rook. like in that post, it again makes me think of the art which accompanied Minrathous Shadows, the short story about the Viper. the outfit of the person in that art isn't the same as Rook's, but there are similar aspects in the way that people from the same faction have similar aspects in their outfits. again I'm wondering if maybe the Viper is associated with the Shadow Dragons faction, maybe even the Viper leads it? and what if their contact in that story, a lady who is lightning smart, is Neve? ^^

Also, Rook already has the Veilguard symbol on their clothes in this trailer. I wonder which moment the trailer is depicting. Is it depicting the moment when Varric and Harding first met Rook, then after it they recruited them to join the team? Or is it depicting a time after that when Rook had already been travelling with them for some time (per some info we were told before we know that Rook has been with Varric for a while already before the start of the game), as just a lil part of the team, only their performance in this bar fight was the moment when Varric and Harding realized that Rook could lead? Is it neither of these, and more just a cool scene for a trailer for vibes (that is very valid btw, it's a trailer - we didn't see the Hero of Ferelden's eyes for example glowing blue as they entered that specific cavern full of darkspawn like in that one DA:O trailer etc) - the trailer did note at the start that not all images in the trailer appear in the actual game. the trailer also depicts a barfight, and we know the game can kick off with a fight in a Tevinter bar (depending on if Rook chooses to be aggressive in the bar, a fight scene can follow). or maybe the trailer is showing when Varric and Harding met Shadow Dragon Rook specifically? since we know that faction choice basically determines why Rook has been called to help in the fight against Solas, and in this trailer it's Harding being impressed by Rook in Minrathous as they fend off Venatori, specifically.

End group fight

I really love the tagline "Together - Defy The Gods". "Together" puts the emphasis on the companions, the characters and their relationships with Rook & one another as they work together as a team. it makes sense to flash up at this point too, when the whole party (not just Rook+2) is fighting a serious battle together and quite a few of them get a spotlight of them doing their thing as the camera pans around this battle. the tagline also reminds me of when the Inquisitor can say defiantly to Cory at the end of DAI, "I don't believe in gods". ◕‿◕ I also really liked the swelling of the music and the drumming as the trailer ended, it was cool.

At this point, we can see Shadow Dragon Rogue Rook, Neve, Harding, Lucanis, Davrin and Bellara, though in the next bit we also see Taash fighting in the circle. am I just missing her at this first point? can anyone see Taash in that image? ^^ (Emmrich runs up in a following scene.) they're fighting off loads and loads of red lyrium darkspawn (when I watched this scene a second time I realized those humanoid darkspawn remind me a lot of the husks from Mass Effect, only red instead of blue). the big darkspawn swinging a hammer near Lucanis looks like one of the redesigned ogres. I really liked the group fight scene, I thought it was really cool and heroic. :) I hope this is a cutscene and bossfight-type battle at some point in the game's main storyline, because it is a really cool scene. :D maybe the trailer version with all the companions in it is just that, the trailer cinematic version of the fight, and in the gameplay it's Rook+2 companions as in this screenshot?

from the way the structures around them look architecturally, the place they're in has ancient elven ruins. the red sky is ominous. from the darkness and the curling tendrils, and what looks like maybe sacs on the walls, the place they're in is afflicted by Taint corruption. there are also floating chunks of rock in the sky, a trait of the Fade or places in the mundane world where the Veil is thin and Fadey things are Fadin'. they are in the same place as in this screenshot. (when the dragon alights later in this segment, it also generally evokes the sense of this key art for me.) and like I said here, this place and dragon encounter bears a resemblance to the 2x cover arts of the DA Vinyl, which we know were called "Golden City" and "Black City". so here we are maybe, in the corrupted/Blighted Black City..? and if it has ancient elven architecture.. brb, lying awake at night thinkin of how the elven architecture on the vinyl cover art basically confirmed the long-held theory that Arlathan is the Black City. these tower-tops are quite like what we see here in Arlathan Forest and here in Arlathan Forest at Solas' ritual site in the gameplay reveal video, for example.

Bellara's bedroll in her backpack in this climactic battle is so cute and pratical. 🥺 when her 'arrow' hits its mark, darkspawn blood and guts go everywhere. Rook has a cool golden dagger. Lucanis, please move, you are about to be smashed by an ogre's hammer. I'm really curious about his purple wing ability - like how does it work and what does it do? he pretty much stays on the same spot, wings outstretched, for the duration of this scene. I love the way Neve moves when she casts magic, it's like she's dancing, like some forms of bending in Avatar or something. when she lights up with the bright light she looks even radiant-er than usual. and the flash of Neve's ice magic turning the screen white for the next text to appear is a smart transition. ^^

(darkspawn feet pic.)

I'm a sucker for a good ol' 'camera pans around the gang fighting something off together and looking cool'. you know that one shot in the Avengers somewhere where it circles round them when they stand ready in a circle? that's the vibe, and it reminds me of when the devs mentioned the Avengers in the context of talking about the game's name change.

Davrin's boots have spur-looking parts! you can feel the force of Taash's blow there. and then Emmrich comes running up to the team from somewhere else chased by more darkspawn and the freakin dragon. did.. did they use poor Emmrich as DRAGON BAIT (I kind of get the impression that they wanted to draw the dragon to this particular location, and I wonder if that has something to do with the circle)? 😭😭 Grandpa..?? they wouldn't let him help fight in the circle with his magic, or assign a more physical member of the team to be the bait, and were instead just like run old man, run. 😭 he's running for his life and Harding's like over here Emmrich, I'll keep them off you, promise. at this point you can also see lots of those Blight sacs on the walls. the dragon is huge and looks really cool and detailed - when it's getting ready to breathe fire, you can see light through the tissue of its throat, and the fire dripping from its maw is cool.

in the final scene with the dragon's wings outstretched, on the left you can see a red lamp-type thing. it's the same as the blue ones here, only red. I wonder what those are? and why do they change color?

and of course, like I said here, in the background at this point we can see the Evanuris symbols in the form of their headshapes, specifically on the tops of statues just like the ones that surrounded Solas' ritual site in Arlathan Forest in the gameplay reveal. this makes me wonder - this battle seems quite climactic, if it occurs at the end of the game, maybe the game ends where it all really began, back at the Arlathan Forest Ritual Site, which by that point has maybe become extra Fadey and has corruption spreading in it, which killed all the vegetation? that would be poetic. an alternative spin on this theory is that, since this place is kinda Fadey, maybe it's the in-Fade reflection (specifically the Black City) of the irl ritual site.

I've previously wondered if the dragon in this shot is Elgar'nan (dragons were a form reserved for the divine, i.e. the Evanuris, in the time of the Evanuris), but on a re-watch, from the way things are positioned (maybe that was intentional?), the statue-head directly behind the dragon in the center as it spreads its wings is actually the one with the Ghilan'nain headshape, so maybe it's actually Ghil? this dragon's horns curve down like Ghil's headpiece curves, not upwards like Elgar'nan's. this concept art piece for DA4 to me implies both Ghil and Elgar'nan take dragon form (2 dragons here, 2 Evil Gods rising), and as we know, they were a shape of the divine generally speaking back then anyway so it's totally feasible. the dragon in the trailer matches the one on the left in this concept art more than the one on the right.

The other big thing about the final shot is that there is an eclipse in the background. this is just like on the vinyl cover arts, and is something we've seen a lot in DA:TV marketing (ctrl-f "eclipse" here), e.g. the astral-looking spheres here, this previous iteration of the logo. it's also a thing that has cropped up in related lore in previous games, along with sun&moon imagery (example), like:

two shadowed spheres among stars / an eclipse as Fen'Harel stirred [Emergent Compendium]

and I looked up and saw the seven gates of the Black City shatter, and darkness cloaked both realms. [Chant of Light]

etc. and if you think about it, in a solar eclipse, the moon blocks out the sun. Elgar'nan in Dalish lore is the son of the sun; he threw the sun down from the sky and is known as He Who Overthrew His Father. throwing down the sun would cause darkness, and it could be a poetic reading of an eclipse-type event like we're seeing here. additionally, the Dalish believe that when he did so, he buried the sun in the abyss (which might be the Void), a place which sounds like it's in a different part of reality to the waking world and which sounds like it could potentially be Blighted. (and in this trailer we're looking at a Fade-y or Fade location, and it is corrupted).

as the trailer ends, we can see pretty designs similar to the one here around Rook's level in the top left.

At the end of this post I'm gonna link to some more of the other posts I made about the trailer & related things at the time, just for the sake of completion. ^^

Post with the reveal trailer in it

Related official new screenshots from the website

Yeyyy, griffons are back (outside of the books)

Vallaslin

We saw you from across the bar

Lucanis wings compilation pic

Floating building, welcome back

He is here

A dream come true

Yoooo

They have come to deliver this world.. (◡ ‿ ◡ ✿)

88 notes · View notes

imnotasuperhero · 2 years

Text

Deep, in the dark, you’ll surrender your heart.

Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Summary: What started like a playfull banter leading to a nightstand, turned into something else in the span of hours. (There’s a small part containing smut that I set the font in cursive and it doesn’t affect the story if you scroll past it)

A/N: I’ve gotten this request Tuesday night and it refused to leave my mind untill I created it, so here it is! An over 4k gigant that had taken a night off my life, literally. I’ve been writing and planning since last night at 8pm and It’s past 7 am now, which I hope helps you dismiss any possible mistake since my two braincells are squeezing their fuel thank. Enjoy!

“I agree. That specific shade should be garnet instead of burgundy.” You commented, leaning into the stranger sitting at a barstool with her sight lost into space.

“I-” The body in front of you stood petrified for a few seconds too long. “What?” Frowned the brunette looking back at you with a quizzical expression.

“You’ve been staring at that wall for so long I thought you were analyzing it.” You shrugged. “Is this seat taken?”

“See if I care.”

You smirked, asking the beardy man for your drink.

“Interesting choice you went for,” the woman beside you noted, clearly hearing your order.

“You see, when you’re in my line of work, you’re forced to combine things even in random aspects of your life.” You spoke confidently, determined to try a new bed tonight.

“That’s so, huh?” The green eyes beauty sipped from her drink, and you felt your legs tremble at the ghosting smirk perched on her lips.

Thanking the man, you dragged your glass in her direction. “Wanna try it?”

“How do I know you didn’t pay the guy to roofie me?”

Clicking your tongue, you faked your best deception look. “Damn it. You’ve got me.”

The playful smile on those red lips captivated you in ways you never thought possible. “If something happens to me, know that you��ll have to watch your back for life.”

“I’m good at defending myself,” you winked, earning a hearty laugh from her.

Seeing in anticipation how the stranger brought your cocktail to her lips, you choked at the low moan she breathed after the cold, sour drink collided against her taste buds. “I see you know what you want,” she nodded just to take the drink out of your reach. “Nu-uh, this is mine.”

“Am afraid it won’t be free,” you warned, and you patted yourself on the back when you noticed the stealthy deep intake of breath she took.

“Is it beet what I taste?” She scrunched her nose in a way that made you smile.

The following hours were spent talking with that beautiful woman that has taken your breath away from the other side of the bar in which you met your friends at. You could always rain check for another day.

Wanda, as she introduced herself, was a woman of many achievements and the CEO of some growing interior design company located on the outskirts of Manhattan island and, just like you, she didn’t lack the guts to do whatever she pleased which, being honest, you embraced with open arms.

Sending a quick text to Charlie, you extended your arms, smirking when Wanda accepted the gesture, after considering it for a moment.

To say the distance to her place was taking so long was an understatement. Luckily the car had a tinted window that separated the driver’s space from you both, not that you would mind if it didn’t. Lord knows the things you’ve done in the backseat of multiple taxis.

Wanda’s intoxicating lips casted a spell on you for all you could do was try to win the prevailing war between you both. Your hands rummaged upwards, squeezing with just the right force, taking a throaty moan out of her.

But what had you gasping was the sudden weight on your laps.

“Someone’s needy,” you rasped, moving your lips from her lips down her throat, kissing and sucking on her pulse point.

“You’re the one who drugged me,” Wanda moaned, moving her hips against your bare thigh.

Moaning, you grabbed her waist, guiding her through the chasing. “In my defense, you were warned,”

“Shut your smartmouth and kiss me.”

But before you could do so, the car came to a stop, making her grunt. “Hurry up,” she commanded moving off of you, waiting to exit the car.

After she got out, you quickly closed the door, following her to the entrance of the captivating facade.

The simple yet strong lines of the elements conformed an appealing look, calling you to understand the unique blend of the different textures intricated in a good-looking puzzle of warm colors.

“Nice contrast,” you commented, scrutinizing every single aspect of the exterior of the house in front of you.

“I can give you a tour later,” Wanda spoke a few feet from you, the expectation clear in her green eyes.

“Right,” you rushed inside, not able to scold yourself for admiring the modern style.

“The way you chose abstract-” you stopped mid-sentence when Wanda’s slender finger burned the skin on your lips.

“Less talking, more kissing.” She smiled something impatiently.

“Yes, ma’am.” You smirked, capturing her lips once more, re-exploring every single spot you could reach.

Stumbling through your steps, your hands held tightly onto Wanda’s hips, your fingers itching to be in contact with the softest sking you could only imagine in your dreams.

“Zip,” she indicated as her hands reached for yours.

Doing a quick job of the zip at her back, you broke apart from her lips, looking intently into the darkened green eyes as your hands brushed the thigh fabric down her pale skin.

You could only gasp as your eyes ran down her body excruciatingly slowly, determined to take in her natural beauty.

Once her black dress was discarded on the floor, you quickly strip to your underwear to then push her softly to the bed.

“God, you’re beautiful,” you vowed looking at Wanda in her birth suit, fusing with the sea green of her silky sheets.

Smiling softly, Wanda took your hand, bringing you on top of her. “Show me.”

You didn’t need more indication than these words for the hungriness inside you roared at the hallucinating taste of her lips.

Your tongue fought against hers, in a game of dominance that only the strongest one would win. You constricted the muscle of your thigh against her core as Wanda’s hips bucked upwards with expertise, coating your warm skin with the sticky substance and you made a mental note to taste her. But for now, you worshiped her body like the goddess she was.

The sheets wrinkled in her fists as your teeth marked her burning skin, sending her into a spiral full of ecstasy.

The painful moan she released when you moved forward just right enough had you grumbling at the need taking over you.

“Don’t hold back,” you ordered her, kissing her as deep as you could, not having enough of her. The tips of your fingers itched with electricity the more your hands explored her lustful body, and the willpower to keep her wanting was dropping critically fast.

With one last kiss to her lips, you began a long but enjoyable trip down the sea of warm, smooth skin, feeding a hunger you didn’t think you could ever fill.

Sloppy, wet kisses pampered Wanda’s skin, sending her to cloud nine as she gave into the pleasure you provided her, turning her into a complete mess under you.

The nails dipping on your back took a guttural grunt out of you, which only served for you to bite just above her pert nipple. You smiled when Wanda trembled under you, jotting down your discovery on your mind for later use.

“Please,”

“Hmm?” You growled, too busy sucking on her pinky nipple, as your free hand pinched and massaged her other.

“I need you,” Wanda cried softly, thumping hard against your overcoated thigh.

Sighing expectantly, you left her breast with a pop.

Looking up, you made sure Wanda’s eyes stayed locked on yours as you descended through her sternum down to her lower stomach, amazed by the utter craving reflected in her darkened pupils.

A primal moan escaped you when your tongue lapped at her folds, your taste buds coated in that elixir you’ve got the pleasure to discover.

Not getting enough of it, you poked and licked every single corner you could reach, enjoying the animalistic moans coming from over you.

“Oh, fuck!” Wanda cried when your tongue entered her. “Don’t stop.”

Grunting, you obliged.

She asked you to show her your devotion, and you just did that for a few more rounds, until she asked you for mercy.

“You sure you can’t give me one more?” You smirked against her lips, gradually slowing the pace of your fingers after guiding her through her fall.

“Maybe later,” she wrapped her arms around your neck, bringing you closer to her, enjoying the mixed warmth of your sweaty bodies.

Giggling, you decided to give up. Propping yourself on your elbow half on top of Wanda, your hand started to draw invisible patterns on her chest, quietly listening to her humming.

“Wonder what other qualities you withhold,” Wanda mused, breaking the comfortable silence that settled between you two a few moments ago.

“Not to brag about, but I’m doing well in life,” you shrugged nonchalantly.

At the silence settling once again, you looked from the hand in her chest to Wanda’s eyes, questioning silently.

“Go on a date with me,”

Your fingers stop mid-movement as those words sunk in. She wanted… more?

“I don’t do dates,” you shifted uncomfortably, retracting your hand to your personal space.

“It doesn’t mean marriage, you know?” Wanda frowned at your refusal.

“I don’t care. I’m not looking for more than what this is. A nightstand only.” You remarked on every word, making sure she understood.

You heard her sigh pregnantly as you stood up, dressing up.

“Do you even know who I am?” the brunette stood up, too, walking around the bed to reach you.

“I don’t give a fuck who you are,” you hissed internally at those words. “I’m not interested.”

“I’m Wanda fucking Maximoff! You should be glad I looked at you,” the woman stepped forward, sending chills down your spine. The look in those green eyes that held so much glint a few moments ago shifted to one of anger. Her body stance alerted all your senses and you choked at the need to win the match once again, fucking that rage away.

Instead, you grabbed her shoulders, moving her closer just enough.

“Goodbye, Wanda fucking Maximoff.” You walked away, leaving a steamy Wanda behind.

A week passed since your encounter with Wanda and she hadn’t been able to expel you from her mind. The captivating, mysterious persona you possessed had her hanging with unanswered questions that, with the way you gave but held back, only seemed to grow by the minute. And the plans and documents she had on her desk only added to the headache her eyes were acquiring the more she looked at the different colors and textures.

‘I need you’ she sighed sending the text, turning around in her chair to enjoy the skyline in front of her. The imaginary finger scratching at her brain was getting the best of her, affecting her work.

The grasp on her phone faltered for a moment as the chiming startled her.

‘It’s an easy day. Come over to the bakery and we’ll talk.’ Wanda smiled gladly. She knew she could always count on her friend.

Stepping into the chilly air of mid-October, Wanda snuggled into her velvety coat and decided against driving. It was just a few blocks away and she knew for sure she could use some oxygen.

“I ordered your usual,” the redhead greeted as Wanda took a seat at their designated table.

“You’re a blessing,” the brunette thanked. “I was praying you were free.”

“That bad, huh?” Natasha smiled pitifully.

“Remember I hooked up with a girl last week?”

Wanda wasn’t someone to avoid subjects. She didn’t had the time nor the strength to kick around the bush. Much less when it was something that took over her whole life.

“Thank you,” Natasha thanked the young girl placing their food at their table. “She’s stalking you?” The smirk on the redhead’s lips made Wanda’s blood boil. “You should get used to it by now, Wands. Or better yet, create an alter ego.”

“Haha, very funny.” Wanda snarled, taking a bite of her cinnamon roll. “She basically discarded me like some piece of-”

“As your best friend, you had it coming a long time ago, babes.”

Those words ricocheted through her mind, suddenly realizing some… no. She was a goddess and everyone knew her worth.

“I’m serious, Nat! She didn’t even allow me to ask her out.” Wanda cringed at the whine in those words. You’ve come around like a brick wall and all she wanted to do was to climb it up.

And boy, did you come.

Wanda looked up from the sweet treat on her plate at the sound of the voice that haunted her since the day you left.

“Y/N!” The brunette witnessed quietly how -her- Natasha stood up, hugging you as you giggled, unaware of her presence.

“Long time, no see.” You smiled, keeping an eye on the barista preparing your order.

“Dude, yes! I’m sorry for not going the other day-”

“You’re okay, Nat. I knew it was a long shot for you to be back in time.”

“Really. We can meet tonight if you want.”

The whole interaction panged at Wanda’s heart as she saw you interacting so carefree with someone who wasn’t her. And the fact Natasha had known you all this time didn’t ease the betrayal she was starting to feel.

“-Wanda.” The brunette came out of her reverie at the calling her name and she’d be lying if the look of indifference in your eyes sent her soul to the underworld.

“Hi,” you acknowledged her with a polite smile.

Before she could answer, you hurriedly kissed Nat’s cheek, claiming you were in a hurry and your order was ready.

The feeling of emptiness invaded Wanda once again, forming a lump in her throat.

“What’s wro- It’s her?” Natasha asked scandalized. Her green eyes wide open.

“That’s Y/N,” Wanda sighed, looking defeated at your attitude.

“Oh, my.” Natasha sat back down, her gaze full of pitiness. “I’m sorry, Wands. She’s… she’s out of reach.”

“You have to help me,” she begged.

To be honest, Wanda was tired of portraying someone she really wasn’t. She’s been for a while now. Her own past molded her to protect her heart and never let her naive self show again. But if the last few days served for something, was to show her she might have found the person she could trust her heart to. If only she could have you.

“I don’t know,” the redhead squeezed her hand supportingly.

”You know her, Nat. Why is she closed up to me?”

“It’s not you, Wanda.” Natasha smiled tenderly. “She… she has her own dilemmas, too. Just like you,”

Looking down at the design in front of you, you sighed tiredly as your mind seemed to refuse to let go of the encounter from hours ago. Wanda’s sad face was engraved into your retinas, making your chest inflate with something akin to sorrow with every breath you took.

But you’ve made your peace with your change of character. You valued yourself too much to be left as a second option for some businesswoman. That kind was never a nice feature.

You just couldn’t take the risk. Your heart weighed more than any pretty face with a killer body that invited you to their bed.

Thankfully, the knock on your door took you out of your head, smiling at the grumbling of your stomach as the time on your phone read 8 pm.

“Did I ever tell you I love you?” You greeted the redhead, grabbing the bags out of her hands.

“Once or twice, but it better be true for that cost me a lung,” Natasha smirked as she saw you licking your lips at the food in front of you.

“I’ll pay you back,” you shrugged, hurriedly placing both pairs of chopsticks beside the containers on the wooden coffee table.

“How about you design my future house for free?” Nat tried walking into the kitchen, looking for the cold bottle of wine and two glasses.

“You know you’ll need to buy me more than this, right?” You clicked your tongue, earning a laugh from your friend.

“We’ll discuss it another time,” she sat by your side on the floor, taking the remote to choose a movie.

Content, both of you decided on a lighthearted movie as you dig into the delicious sushi calling your name, commenting here and there throughout the whole duration.

The weight in your heart lifted a bit as you smiled at the peace the redhead provided you. No matter how long you’ve been apart, your friendship was always intact.

“So,” Natasha spoke as the credit rolled on the darkened screen. “Have you got an offer yet?”

“Still waiting,” you sipped from your wine, enjoying the tingly sensation.

“I might have found you a nice spot,”

“You what? For real?” Your eyes almost fell out of its sockets at the words. “Oh, my lord, Nat!” You launched yourself at a giggling redhead. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“It was nothing,” her long arms wrapped around your waist for a moment. “They asked if I knew someone and I thought of you.”

“You’re the best, really!” You gasped cheerily, breaking away from the hug.

You couldn’t fit more happiness in your chest. Granted, you still had to get interviewed and everything, but the idea of taking a break from the hustle of being your own boss looked like a great vacation after working solo for the last 2 years.

To say that night you were unable to sleep was an understatement for all your mind could think of was the different projects you’d direct for the next few years. No more deals with the clients nor complaints about prices.

Feeling optimistic, you looked at your reflection one last time before confidently walking out of your apartment with a steamy travel mug of coffee in hand. The blasting music coming from the speakers of your car had your head bobbing at the beat, adding to the feeling of pure joy you experienced.

But said joy muted into nervousness as you stepped through the floor-to-ceiling doors of the building. The bodies scattered around unbothered by your presence.

“Hi,” you greeted the lady at the front desk. “I’m here for the design team director’s interview?”

“One minute, please.” The blonde smiled warmly before tapping away on her keyboard. “Take the elevator to the third floor, then walk straight to the office at the back.”

“Thank you so much,” you smiled, fasting your grip on the strap of your portfolio bag as you walked the directions you were given.

Stopping by, you knocked on the ginormous wooden door, you straightened yourself, confident enough to not think about the looks the people working on that floor were giving you.

You prayed silently as the muffled voice on the other side invited you to come in.

But all the nervousness and expectations you had flew outside the window at the woman sitting in front of you.

“Y/N,” Wanda gasped, standing up and walking slowly towards you.

You took a deep breath and allowed yourself to calm the turmoil forming inside of you.

“I should've known better,” you grunted thinking back on the comfortable space you found Natasha last Thursday. You should’ve known someone like Wanda wouldn't stop until she got what she settled her eyes onto.

“No, please stay.” Wanda hurried to the door, blocking your way.

“Is the position even open?” You changed your weight from one foot to the other, feeling the previous cheery feeling slipping through your body.

“It is,” Wanda said, hurt showing in her eyes. “It was just a coincidence Nat knows a potential talent to replace Julio.”

“I’m sure someone else will pop up,” you sighed, ignoring looking her in the eyes. The magnetic pull between you both, getting harder and harder to ignore.

“Please. Just give us a try. The company, I mean,” Wanda corrected herself.

Looking up to those green eyes that liked to hunt your dreams sometimes shined with hope and you couldn’t resist. Not when you had finished the last project and had nothing to do until you found something else.

“Whatever,” you walked over to the desk, unbeknownst to Wand’s toothy smile.

“Here are a few of my designs,” you handed her the black leathery folder, fighting the urge to pay attention to Wanda’s reaction to every page she inspected.

Focusing on every single detail in Wanda’s minimalistic office, you quietly calmed your erratic heart as you dried your hands on your jacket.

After a few minutes of silence, the brunette hummed approvingly and you released a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

“They’re really good, Y/N,” Wanda smiled proudly at you and you felt your heart do a somersault at the look in her eyes. “I like how detailed your lines are.”

“Thank you,” you smiled shyly.

“I have a question, though,” Wanda closed the folder and placed it on her desk, her intertwined hands over it. “I only see your designs lead towards the simplistic, detailed styles. How do you manage with Victorian style?” The perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised in a criticizing way and could only stand still, hiding the unsettling tickles on your stomach.

Was that still ongoing? You knew there was always someone who wanted their place overcrowded with furniture that only served to suffocate you the longer you stayed inside the room. But never thought it was something this company specialized in.

“It makes me cringe, but I can put the client's wishes over my comfort,” you answered honestly.

“Good, because as the head of the interior design department, you must be open to things that give you nightmares.” Wanda smiled, trying to win your trust.

And that she did. Every new interaction she pulled out of you, served for you to see her as Wanda the person and not as your boss. With every project you both discussed, the closest you two became and what started like an overstay on a stormy night to finish some big project, turned into impromptu after-hour at least once a month. And Wanda couldn’t be prouder of herself for fooling you into deadlines that could easily be met the following day.

“Food is here,” Wanda informed you, walking towards the door. “Hope you feel like having Thai.”

“Sure,” you agreed, your attention focused on the different palettes of blues trying to find the right shade for this nursery. Unaware of Wanda’s soft gaze on you.

One of Wanda’s oldest clients asked for her to be the one who designed the brand new house he wanted to gift her daughter, and of course, she thought this was a great way to have you stay longer.

The more you opened up to her, the harder it was for Wanda to give up her hopes. And in consequence, the deeper she felt for you, like an innocent girl walking towards a spooky candy store filled with the sweetest treats you could imagine.

“Let’s take a break,” she suggested entering her office, looking at your couched form painting on the plan under you.

“It’s okay, I can multitask,” you shrugged.

Sighing, she walked over and took the coloring pencil off your hand. “I’m not asking,” she looked sternly at you.

“Fine,” you huffed, following her to the small sofa adjacent to her desk.

Allowing the comfortable silence that settled between you, Wanda ate her noodles thinking of the right way to say what she needed.

The curiosity was taking the best of her and the fact that Natasha was secretive about it only added to the itching feeling eating her from the inside out.

“Can I ask you something?”

Wanda could only smile softly at the innocent look you gave her as you nodded with the chopsticks still in your mouth and a single noodle escaping your lips.

“Why you refuse to go on dates?” She braced herself for the stormy argument about to start.

Only, it never came.

“Why so insistent?” You swallowed, allowing your shoulders to fall.

“It’s the only thing that haunts me every moment since we hooked up,” Wanda explained honestly, seeing how your face shifted from discomfort to resignation.

“My ex was a lawyer. She always put her work over me, no matter how much I tried to get her to come home before midnight.” You spoke softly and Wanda felt a pang in her heart at the disappointment in your voice.

“After I stomp down my foot, I promised myself to never be the second option for someone else. If my girlfriend can’t stop working to come to our bed, then she could never be the right one.”

“I’m sorry,” Wanda could only ache at your confession, the tugs at her heart only pulling further, imagining you alone in bed feeling so small in the nighttime.

“You know not everyone is the same, right?” She tried, tiptoeing into the idea forming in her mind.

“Says the one who stays after hours every other day,” you smirk.

“I don’t like being alone,” Wanda thought it was only fair to share her own issue.

Your small laugh got Wanda frowning. What could be funny about this?

“Nat would be all braggy about this,” you nodded in the negative. “She said we were meant to be,” you looked up at her and Wanda’s heart missed a few beats.

“Wouldn’t doubt that,” the brunette smiled at the thought of her friend teasing you equally as she did with her.

“Can I kiss you?”

If her heart was having trouble beating by itself, she was sure she now needed a cardiac pacemaker for the dizziness that appeared for a second or two.

Smiling brightly, the brunette launched herself at you, savoring the lips she’s dreamed of for so long.

“Is this some default movement?” You smirked as she settled on your lap.

“Oh, hush. It’s not like you don’t enjoy it,” Wanda countered attaching her lips to yours, not having enough of you.

“Does this mean I get to take you on a date?” She asked hopeful, after breaking the link for much-needed air.

The look of playfulness that she found in your eyes made her squeal in anticipation.

“One missed date, one late anniversary, hell; even one plan canceled at the last minute, I walk out of your life.”

Wanda could only nod frantically at the prospect of you having accepted her. The foggy dreams at the back of her mind cleared away as her determination lighted brighter than ever.

“You have my word,” she leaned down to seal the pact with a kiss.

She knew that it was too soon to jump into the pool. But having you in her arms after surrendering your heart to her, Wanda made it her mission to never leave you down. No matter what trouble she got in, she’s had the emptiness of her heart be filled by you and she couldn’t retribute you any other way than to put you first above anything else.

As always, comments and reblogs are highly appreciated (:

Taglist: @summergeezburr @red1culous @wandabear

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda x reader #wanda maximoff #my writing #requested

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fragmentedblade · 7 months

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Can you expand more on Ratio's philosophical influences? You seem super knowledgeable!

I've been sitting on this for some time because I didn't know what prompted this message and thus I didn't know what to answer and how. I guess it may be the comment I wrote about him having a socratic but also a sophist air?

There are a lot of details in Ratio's overall design that point towards philosophical references. I want to draw attention to the fact that since this is a vague message on anon I don't really know what to focus on or what could I skip because it's information already known, so what I'm going to say is a very brief summary of many ideas, which of course makes such ideas but the shadow of an echo of themselves, so faint they almost become untrue. I fervently advise to look more deeply into any of this if something catches anyone's interest. And I also want to point out that the problem of knowing a little bit of something, even its existence, is that seeing turns to seeking, and an excess of seeing is also a blindness; what I mean by this is that I'm not sure how much of what I am going to say was intentional by the developers/writers and how much is just me suffering the blindness of seeing too much haha

However, I also want to clarify that I do think many of the things I’m going to say are present even if perhaps not intended by the writers/designers. This is due to the fact that Ratio’s main influence is platonism, and platonism is everywhere in western philosophy and in general western culture; once you see it you cannot unsee it. So perhaps I am reading too much or making correlations between things in his design that were not meant to be linked, giving a depth to the character that is probably incidental, but that I would say nonetheless exists because it pertains to a certain philosophical tradition in which the elements stem from each other. I hope this will become clearer in its development if it isn’t right now.

Ratio has an Apollonian air. At first that and his mask made me wonder if he was going to be linked to the Mourning Actors, who alongside the Masked Fools for now remind me a lot of the Nietzschean Apollonian and Dyonisian dichotomy. This was conjecture on my side so I won't go on about this on this ask.

Ratio retains however the Apollo air. When I saw his splash art he reminded me instantly of the Belvedere Apollo, down to the strap under his chest like the sculpture has the quiver's strap. His sixth eidolon too recalls that sculpture, since it seems to be a mix of the pose in Michelangelo's David with the cloth in the Belvedere Apollo. Among other things, Apollo is a god linked to truth, medicine, archery and divination. The owl seems to be a reference to Athena, though.

Ratio also has the laurel or bay branch on his head, which is one of Apollo's traits. Laurel on someone's head became linked to victory as well as academic and artistic merit (I know in Italy people still use it when graduating, for instance; I mean, that's where the word comes from). The fact that he has half of it is most likely due to an aesthetic choice, especially given how the character designs are pointedly asymmetric in this game; however, I think it works well with how, no matter how much he achieves and how hard he tries, Ratio is never gazed upon by Nous nor accepted by the Genius Society with the frustration, bitterness and questioning that brings both himself and others.

This last point, being ignored by something akin to a divinity, works also with his Apollonian air, I'd say. Given his Apollo look, his snake-like pupils made me think instantly of Delphi. Delphi was where a temple to Apollo was (linked to a mythological snake, and snakes thus became associated with Apollo in imagery), and it was famous for its prophecies. Socrates (the master of Plato and main figure in his dialogues) is said to have started the habit of questioning he is mostly famous for because a friend of his went to the temple in Delphi and was told by the Oracle that the wisest man in Athens was Socrates. Socrates was perplexed by this because he knew nothing, and started posing questions to supposedly erudite people about the matters about which they were experts, only to come out of that feeling unsatisfied with the answers. Thus, Socrates thought the Oracle may be right after all, but he was only the wisest man because he at least knew that he knew nothing.

This works very well with Ratio because Socrates starts the journey by being distinguished among his peers, gazed upon, by a god (Apollo was supposed to possess the Pythia, or at the very least the prophetic power came from him), while Ratio never gets that recognition, and seems resigned to that already ("If this day I have not gained the recognition of Nous, it stands to reason that I never will at any point in the future" and "One day, I received a letter from the Interastral Peace Corporation (...). I could tell the solemnity of the invitation, so I excitedly passed it on to Mr. Ratio. Yet, he said nothing. I could sense his heavy silence even through the headgear. He then politely asked me to leave. The moment I closed the door, I heard a grim sigh followed by a self-deprecating laughter... Perhaps he realized he would never be accepted into the Genius Society..."). The mix of arrogance and humbleness, although enhanced in Ratio in a comical degree, is already somewhat present I would argue in the way Socrates talks in Plato's dialogues. Arrogance was also a trait Heraclitus, the author of the line cited in the name of his banner (“Panta rhei”), was famous to have.

So Ratio takes the position at the IPC. The Intelligentsia Guild is "often seen as a vendor of knowledge", and is looked down upon by the Genius Society. This is where I think the philosopher/sophist dichotomy comes in. Sophists were teachers, and were paid. They also were known to use rhetoric to convince (I would say there's a reference to this in one of Ratio's daily messages). In the political landscape of Athens, they were very useful for young men interested in politics. Some sophists became quite rich and famous. Usually philosophers, who didn't receive any money and did everything for the "love of knowledge" itself, looked down on them. At least in the texts of Plato that's often the case, although some sophists are portrayed under a better light even there; btw many of the things I've been saying come from Plato, but since this is an intricate subject on its own that isn’t directly pertinent to the ask I won't dwell on it right now.

Education in ancient Greece consisted of both intellectual and physical training. Intellectual education included music, poetry, mathematics, astronomy,... Physical fitness was held as something very important in a young man's curriculum as well. I think this is where the fanservicey choice of making Ratio so fit and pretty comes from. And I say “pretty” because beauty too is an important concept for Plato, and ancient Greece in general. It is also part of what linked the need of a young man to develop himself both intellectually and physically. Beauty is linked to harmony and order, both on an individual basis and cosmologically, often in some philosophical trends to a mathematical level; pythagoreanism has a lot of this.

Indeed I think pythagoreanism has to do somewhat with Ratio's design, considering his link to mathematics and geometry, and given his name ("Ratio" made me think of the golden ratio and in general pythagorean ratios even before it made me think of "reason" tbh), but in general the main philosophical reference in Ratio seems to be Plato, who was influenced greatly by pythagoreanism; this is one of the perhaps unintended indirect yet present links I mentioned at the beginning.

Platonism is very present in many ways in Ratio. It's noticeable even in his visual design, with how buff and handsome he is, arguably the references to Apollo and Athena, the geometry imagery, and even the sculptures he creates with his technique, but the influence is seen throughout his entire character, story, dialogue lines,... Part IV of Ratio’s character story, the way he talks with Roseth and what he says, has in my opinion an echo of platonic dialogues, as does his line “To spread knowledge, we must first make people realize their folly” recall Socrates. In the Trailblaze mission the main character had to argue for their innocence, which to me brought to mind the Apology of Socrates. On the other hand, the way this was done was very reminiscent of the socratic method, both in the discussion and counterargument mechanic of the game as, and especially so, in the use of memory. The main character had already the knowledge they seeked, yet they had forgotten about it, and had to retrieve it through memory guided by the intense questioning of Ratio; this, if applied to the research of a more essential knowledge instead of circumstantial, is the core of Socrates' maieutics. Maieutics is "midwifery". Socrates called by that word his method because he thought he was helping give birth to truths or knowledge that were already present in people's minds, if forgotten. It's what Ratio's skill, "intellectual midwifery", references.

The fact that Socrates' method, the "intellectual midwifery" to put it in in HSR terms, works in platonic philosophy is because it is taken that there are eternal truths, something Ratio believes as well (“The beauty of truth is that it never changes, even when no one understands it. Well, that's true for me, at least”). This has to do with what is called the theory of Forms or the theory of Ideas. The world that we see is but the shadow of that other conceptual abstract world, of which we have but forgotten memories and that we can access only with the mind's eye. Our soul once saw/was part of that other world, which is why it can remember it. Plato was influenced by the pythagorean view of a sort of journey or reincarnation of the soul after dying, to put it some way. This is also extensive, it has to do with orphism, is at the core of a lot of philosophical and theological western traditions, and thus I will say only this, even though it feels very close-to-fake simplistic haha. To summarise, there’s the other abstract perfect world of which everything in this world participates from and is but the shadow of (everything beautiful participates on the Idea of Beauty, eternal and inextinguishable, but it’s never as perfect as that Idea, only but its echo). The idea that the world is but the shadow of the other world is present in Ratio's English line when he is ko-ed, "Mere flesh…" (in Chinese, though, if I’ve understood correctly he says “«Mediocre»… hah”, which is very different if still lore-heavy). This of course implies a strong ontological dualism.

In this sense it is extremely interesting to me that Ratio’s banner is named “Panta rhei”, because Heraclitus is the epitome of the defender that all things were in constant change yet all things are One, the process of “becoming”, the constant struggle, at the core itself of reality (this too is harmony). He was pointedly monist, and is often contrasted to Parmenides, who spoke of eternal unchanging truths and beings. Both are cornerstones in the development of western philosophy and influenced Plato, but the choice calls my attention. In the Japanese wiki the line was linked/took to the buddhist concept of impermanence; while not necessarily related to that, this wiki suggestion made me wonder whether the choice of making “Panta rhei” the name of Ratio’s banner was done to further enhance another aspect of the many parallels between him and Ruan Mei, who also talks about life as something seemingly diverse and changing, hopes to obtain permanence, and talks about a something that transcends the multiple faces of life and that unifies them all (“Life is countless and varied in form. I firmly believe in that. Its beauty is like a myriad of flowers, and I want to pluck the one that never wilts”; “I wish to discover "the true essence of life," something that all individuals possess unknowingly, whether it is the materialism of their existence or an unknown entity beyond corporeal realms”; “The core of all existence is unity”). Even beyond that, in the context of everything else Ratio has going on, the mention of Heraclitus brings very intriguing food for thought to the table; yet I think this may be another instance of things that are, yet were most likely not meant by the writers.

Moving on, I’ll give a quick comment on the more explicit philosophical references we can find in Ratio’s traces, attacks and voicelines, and will dwell a bit only when I think they work well with the subjects and concepts I already commented Ratio plays with, otherwise this response will be eternal.

Summation (trace): in Chinese this is more clearly linked to the inductive reasoning, which in context it is obvious this is what this trace references; I don’t know why they chose to translate it this way. It is a method of reasoning that comes from the observation of particularities to generalisation, hence “summation”. It works well with Ratio causing more damage per debuff, and with the references to empiricism in Ratio’s attacks. The consequences in inductive reasoning are not truly ensured by the premises (the typical example is how you can’t ensure that all ravens are black by as many black ravens as you observe).

Inference (trace): this baffled me because again it is more clear in Chinese that this is referencing deductive reasoning, but every language translates “inference”, whereas in the “deduction” trace the characters are exactly the same as the ones in the Chinese wiki for “inference”, but every language translates “deduction”. I don’t know what’s happening here, I wish I knew Chinese and found this less confusing, but at least both words are present in his traces. Deductive reasoning is the one that goes from premises to conclusion. It is heavily linked to logic and it doesn’t necessarily require empiric knowledge.

Deduction (trace): this is what is called “inference” apparently in Chinese (if someone knows about this I would love to know what is happening in Chinese in these two traces). Inferences are, well, the process of reaching conclusions. It can be either through deduction or induction (or abduction, some would argue, but that’s another can of worms).

Mind is might (basic attack): in latin this is “scientia potentia est”, and while at this point the line is very detached from its context, initially it was linked to Bacon and Hobbes. I honestly think this is just a very convenient name for an attack of a character following a philosophy/sciences/knowledge thematic.

Intellectual midwifery (skill): Socrates, and platonism. I talked about this before.

Syllogistic paradox (ultimate): Syllogistic paradoxes were one of my favourite things when I was studying. Syllogisms are a form of logic reasoning, which consist of two premises and one conclusion. Though the premises may be true, and though the reasoning may be sensible, at times contradictory or illogical conclusions may be reached. This is a syllogistic paradox. Why this happens is because of a myriad of reasons, like the differences between natural and logical language, or the development of theories (the paradoxes in set theory are among my favourite things ever). I personally like to draw a strong distinction between paradoxes and contradictions. Anyway, I have a lot to say about this haha In general, this is what the name of the ultimate is referencing. It works well with Ratio’s traces. It also goes well with some of the other subjects present in his characterisation, like platonism, Descartes and such; there are a lot of paradoxes that arise from many of the theories that play with such topics. I think reading Alice in Wonderland’s apparent madness through the lenses of logic makes us see that most of those incongruences are actually pretty logical; many of them iirc are syllogistic paradoxes. Carroll was a logician. I mention this because this, as well as many other ideas present in Ratio, work extremely well with Penacony.

Cogito, ergo sum (talent): this is a line by Descartes, a rationalist. This too is something that fits Penacony incredibly well. Descartes starts doubting knowledge, ends up questioning pretty much everything, establishes inspired by mathematics and logic a method of acquiring the truth, and in the research of true knowledge he starts doubting everything with a methodical doubt to be able to tell what knowledge stands after being hit by doubt, and why, and try to reconstruct knowledge from there. Ratio’s lines about “seeking answers with a negative hypothesis in mind”, “When one is immersed in academic research, scepticism comes more naturally than belief” or “Pursuit tinged with negativity is still pursuit, and it is capable of leading us to the right conclusion” reminded me of Descartes’ method. One of the steps in the process is doubting one’s own existence, but since I (pardon the “I”, but the first person is very important in Descartes) doubt, then I think, and since I think, then I exist; cogito, ergo sum. This is closely related to platonism in some senses, and while Descartes’ philosophy comes in part from a criticism of scholasticism, it still has ties to it, but Descartes was a massive breakthrough in the history of Philosophy. I also won't dwell on this, but this is fascinating imo haha

Anyway, Descartes’ doubt about the existence of reality, of the world, is heavily linked to dreams, because in dreams we believe things are real but are not, so equally we could be at every moment in a dream and not be aware of that; only the existence of oneself is clear of this doubt (Zhuangzi’s text about the butterfly plays with this too; I comment this because butterflies have appeared in Penacony and the Zhuangzi’s text seems to play in an interesting way with the concept of “I”, taking it a different route than Descartes, which is a very intriguing idea but I don’t know much of Chinese philosophy at all). The concept of simulated realities, Matrix-like settings and such, all are strongly linked to this conception of Descartes, even though similar things existed previously (such as Plato’s allegory of the cave), and this works very well with Penacony again. Obviously, Descartes’ theory is strongly dualist, and it’s even established a body-mind dualism. The idea of the ghost in the shell also comes in great part from Descartes. Descartes’ view of the body was not too unlike that of a machine.

This was in a time in which clockwork and automatons were quickly advancing and fascinating people. Physic theories started to look (even more) like clockwork, with the universe as clockwork and god as a watchmaker that put it into place and then let it run its perfect course, needing or not (depending on the theory) adjustments from the watchmaker from time to time. I said before that harmony was linked to both the cosmos and the body, with the body in part being a reflection of the cosmos, and even linked to it by the harmony of the spheres. This new way of approaching the cosmological and human issues and developing Physics still has echoes of that. Newton, who is referenced in one of Ratio’s idle animations, is one of the epitomes of this concept of the universe as clockwork. Again, I don’t know how much they’ll do with these ideas nor even if they were written on purpose, but it all works so well with Penacony it would be a pity if they did nothing with this.

Another thing I want to note about Descartes is that besides mentally detaching himself from everything while doubting in his deconstruction and construction of knowledge, seeking undoubtable truths, he famously did so physically as well for some time when he first started thinking about the matters in his Discourse on the Method one night: “having no diverting company and fortunately also no cares or emotional turmoil to trouble me”, while he “spent the whole day shut up in a small room heated by a stove, in which I could converse with my own thoughts at leisure”. This reminded me a lot of Ratio’s head and how he uses it: “with the headpiece on, isolated from my five senses, i can think without interference”, “he put on a headgear to keep away all external distractions and completely focus on thinking? Who else in the world could manage that?”.

Mold of idolatry (technique): this links mainly again to the theory of Forms of Plato, with that representation of something else that is what is real. The name of the technique and what it does works well also with the idea of idolatry, especially of idolatry of false gods, idols or even falsehood in general, and how Ratio criticises people’s blind infatuation with geniuses. It also reminds me of Nietzsche’s Twilight of the Idols, or, How to Philosophise with a Hammer. Among other things, Nietzsche heavily criticises platonism and platonic philosophy, and mostly all western philosophers (he has kind words for Heraclitus, for instance).

Wiseman’s folly (ultimate’s effect): the idea that knowledge or beholding the truth brings to something similar to madness or ends up leading to foolishness is a very common one. Many of the Ancient Greece philosophers were said to have been extravagant. Diogenes the Cynic and Heraclitus were two such examples. Democritus was said to have plucked out his own eyes. Empedocles is said to have killed himself in a volcano. There’s Nietzsche, Georg Cantor, Kurt Gödel. It is the idea of the wise ending up being very much like the fool, but also the idea of the wise ending up losing sight of basic truths I believe, in that alienation from the world.

Know thyself (eidolon): this is what was inscribed in the temple of Apollo in Delphi I spoke of before. This is linked to Heraclitus, Socrates, Plato and platonism, of course. I think when it comes to Ratio that’s it, really. But this maxime has had a lot of implications and interpretations in different contexts and at different times. It could be seen as just a salutation, recommending temperance, the idea of knowing oneself and one’s limitations as key to succeed when approaching subjects or problems, the first step of getting to know anything at all, humans and the world being closely linked and even reflection of god so studying one helps studying the other, etc.

Vincit Omnia Veritas (eidolon): the translator says this means “eternal truth” in Chinese, which would play way better with the philosophical ideas and concepts present in Ratio while still playing with his name, “Veritas”. I won’t dwell on this because I’ve already talked about the link between eternal truths and Ratio a lot, and besides I can’t even confirm this is the true meaning because I don’t know Chinese.

Eidolon “The divine is in the details” seems to be a reference to a Chinese idiom that comes from a book. I don’t know if it has greater significance, but if anyone knows I am all ears. The other eidolons obviously work with Ratio, but I don’t see obvious philosophical influences so I’m skipping them.

Esse est percipi (ultimate line): “To be is to be perceived”. This is a line by Berkeley and linked to his philosophy. He criticises both dualism and materialism. The core idea is that the world’s existence is entirely dependent on the mind, that things don’t exist unless they are perceived and thought. His justification for one’s own existence seems to come from this perception, as Descartes’ came from thinking: “I do nevertheless know that I, who am a spirit or thinking substance, exist as certainly as I know my ideas exist”. Parmenides has a similar idea in his poem. I don’t think this was intended to be read too much into when it comes to Ratio, but I think it fits nicely with the other topics he has going on, and the dichotomy they often entail. It also works well with Ratio’s plaster head, with how he says “I don't have to set eyes on stupid people. Of course, they don't want to see me either”, with how he uses it to go unnoticed or unrecognised in both Herta’s Space Station and Penacony, and I think it could be overread or taken to more exaggerated levels in a juicy manner reading this under the notion of nothingness, mediocrity and being disregarded by Nous.

One of the listed researched achievements of Ratio is in the field of epistemology. Epistemology is the field that studies knowledge. Although studied in particular at times, it is of course often linked to ontological conceptions; all the philosophical theories I’ve stated carry with them epistemological implications as well as ontological. In one of Ratio’s character stories there’s a mention to epistemic logic which is, speaking broadly, a logical approach to the analysis of knowledge.

Another one of his listed achievements is in natural theology, which is the study of god through reason and logic instead of things such as transcendental experiences or revelations. This is very common in philosophy in general. It often has to do as well with the world as a harmonious whole, god as watchmaker/the universe as clockwork, and teleology. I will mention Newton and Darwin here because Newton is referenced in Ratio’s idle animation, and Darwin because he broke up with the teleological tradition when it came to the world. Ratio’s work is named Aeons: A Natural Phenomenon, and the title and its description, how its “Aeon non-theism”, makes it seem to me like he wrote of Aeons as if they were just another form of life or something that pertains to nature itself and not detached from it, which although very different from Darwin’s ideas did remind me of how he dismissed teleology in nature. This also clearly links, in my opinion, to Ruan Mei.

Other than that I also want to note Ratio’s final speech to Screwllum about inspiring doubt and scepticism when it comes to established ideas and geniuses. It reminded me of Socrates, how he was said to have “perverted” youth inspiring all that questioning among other things. It reminded me of Nietzsche, how he fervently encouraged individuals to use critical thinking, question dogmas and preconceived ideas they could have, and come up with their own conclusions that does not mean necessarily negating absolutely everything they held true before the questioning (this exchange between Screwllum and Ratio: “Screwllum: «You wish to uproot the researchers' blind worship of geniuses». Dr. Ratio: «I am only laying out my questions».”). It also pointedly reminded me of Kant's “Sapere aude!”, “Dare to know!”, and his text What Is Enlightenment?, in which among other things Kant talks about the lack of courage, not of intellect, of people to think for themselves, how humanity lives in a constant immaturity or adolescence of the mind, and urges them to get out of that state, to dare to know. Kant was greatly influenced by rationalism but said to have awaken from the rationalist slumber thanks to empiricism; the plays on rationalism and empiricism, deduction and induction, and the presence of idealism in the rest of Ratio’s writing as well as this fervent push for people to snap out of their lack of criticism and dare to think for themselves are what made me think of Kant here.

There’s more things to talk about Ratio, like his view on mediocrity and geniuses, and how that view is constructed and described in traces through fragments in his lore, the character stories, snippets of conversations; how he seems to be so similar in character and drive to geniuses, but never accepted as one, and how he is regarded as very different and eccentric by “normal” people, even in the Guild. In short, how he is detached from both the “normal” people and geniuses, like suspended between both states without being either completely, and how it makes so much sense in this context that he tries to breach the rift between both. I couldn’t help but mention this, to avoid forgetting this aspect of his characterisation in the future, but I won’t dwell on this because it isn’t really directly linked to any philosophical influence that I can think of.

I think this is it. Hopefully I didn’t forget anything important. And I’m sorry it is so long, but I really tried to summarise. As I said, I may well be reading too much into some of these things, but I also think that since Ratio plays with many of the core authors and concepts in the history of western philosophy, some things I expect were not intended by the writers still are present somewhat, because mentioning this or that thing alongside this or that other thing ends up having implications if you know a bit of the context.

I hope this was clear enough. However, I can try to explain myself better or further if I wasn’t. Philosophy may look unapproachable and dry at times at first, but it really isn't, it just needs one to get accustomed to some basic terminology, and it becomes fascinating and beautiful, and lifechanging haha. I would love it if Ratio is making people get a little bit more invested or interested in it, or open to explore it. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a good place to check the main ideas, texts and authors that may spike someone’s interest if anyone wants to read further about anything I've said or compare sources, but tbh I think even Wikipedia can be useful with getting a first feel of some basic ideas to know what to look for. And although I am not an authority or the most trustworthy source at all, I will help as best as I can if someone reading this has any further question. I recommend reading the texts firsthand though, with historical context in mind and footnotes perhaps if possible, and making one's own mind about everything.

#Dr. Ratio #Veritas Ratio #Ratio #Dr Ratio #Honkai Star Rail #Sorry for all the tags but I want to try to reach the person who asked this since it's been some time #If you are still around and see this I would appreciate confirmation that you saw it just to ease my mind a bit xD #Ratio fits Penacony so much I hope they do something with it #I talk too much #I should probably delete this later #And reread it just to make sure everything is alright after copypasting the text to tumblr #Traces

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cecilioque · 2 years

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VOLO’S OUTFIT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BAD. And here is why I think so...

To begin, we are not talking about the Ginko guild design, we are talking about the “final boss” fit. We all know that Volo’s outfit is dumb, but I’m mad because it was actually thought out and VERY symbolic in the sense that it essentially represented things Volo said/wanted.

I, like everyone else looked at this outfit and went “wow, that is dumb” and then hated on it. Although it is not the most appealing or cool outfit, there was actually a lot of thought that went into it. I could be really over analyzing this, but here is my interpretation.

To begin with, the concept art is a lot more revealing about the intention of the design then the actual game play. On a surface level we see Volo in what I can only assume is a Arceus gijinka cosplay. So the hair, the stars, and color scheme are all elements of Arceu’s design. Cool. Good job especially since Volo had in fact never seen Arceus before.

To fully understand this outfit we have to go back to Hisui and the remains of this so called “ancient civilization”. In the Pokemon world, there is this general idea that the ancient culture was either Roman or Greek inspired. We see evidence in Legends of Arceus by the obvious column heavy architecture and use of Greek Doric columns ( one of the earliest styles of columns used for temples) and in the ruins and temple.

The Temple of Sinnoh is obviously based off of the Parthenon. It’s funny because game freak went as far as to even mimic both Ionic and Doric styles in the Temple of Sinnoh just like the Parthenon. I will go as far to add that the Sinnoh temple is much simpler than the Parthenon due to the fact that it was not embellished with an elaborately carved frieze or any decoration on the exterior for the most part. Bizarre when even the broken ruins have evidence of some sort of ornamentation. It makes complete sense why the game developers chose this style seeing how is is know for being very simplistic. But it also dates it in context. It makes the Temple of Sinnoh the first temple that was build and the others that followed were build as the civilization grew ( thus more elaborate but we can only see the crumbled remains).

I will be ignoring the Snowpoint temple because it is a weird combination of styles and almost seems alien and out of place which very much fits the Regi theme. It is also based on the early game design which was limited and blocky for game space sake.

Ok, heavy Greek and Roman influence. Back to Volo and his obviously Greek and Roman fit. Volo’s name itself means “I wish” in latin and could possibly be a reference to the phrase “volō, ergo sum” (I wish, therefore I am). Very in character since it is the wish for more” and he did everything he could to achieve that.

The actual influence for the design is more Roman in nature. This bothered me because we can see that research and thought went into it, but they just simplified it. And this actually has a point.

To begin with the obvious stuff, we see that volo’s shirt is definitely toga like. It even goes so far to be decorated with a Fibula (brooch)in a way that indicates a higher rank or status. Cool Volo, we get that you think highly of yourself. Color choice is also same as Arceus, but we also know that white togas were also used by senators and high political officers.

Next , the shoes. These are just the basic stereotypical Spirit Halloween Greek god/goddess type of sandals you can get at your local costume shop. This was actually the most disappointing part of the outfit for me. But it makes sense they went with the most simplified and recognizable style. They wanted us to look at this outfit and go “ Wow, Volo has been studying his myths and recreated an outfit”. This is what you could expect someone to create with just a written description of the clothing used during that time.

The necklace is interesting because it stands out so much compared to the gold colors. I am no sure what they were going for here by making it so prominent, but it brings us to an interesting thought. If they necklace does have meaning, it is related directly to the design/shape. The waterdrop could be the Greek symbolism for "tears of grace” or in a sense “gods grace”. The idea that the tears of god water the harvest and provide life. Alternate interpretations could simply be water as a source of life, or a symbol or sadness a mourning. If it is a symbol of of mourning, this might be a clue to why Volo might desire to rewrite the world so much.

Last but not least, the pants. I think we can all decide this is one of the worst parts of the outfit, and to me it is just straight up confusing for two main reasons. For starters, the color green is so prominent when green is an accent color on Arceus. So maybe the color has meaning itself. But if you look at the image above, the color mainly refers to life and “the harvest” (possibly like the necklace). It has a weird connections to life and creation itself, which probably is why it was included in Arceus’ design and makes sense as Volo essentially wants to become the creator of life in a new world.

But this isn’t the part that gets me the most. The second thing that confuses me is the fact that the Greeks and Romans did not use pants. This was because pants were associated with non-Roman/Greek cultures (the Germanic tribes and Vikings) who they looked down upon. On top of that, the Greeks thought pants were feminine and silly. This could also just simply be a design choice because they didn’t wanna draw Volo in a full toga and accidently make him look like Christ. But this leads to my final point of the physical outfit itself.

VOLO’S OUTFIT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD. IT’S SUPPOSED TO LOOK DORKY AND BAD BECAUSE IT WAS FLAWED! This is based on the real world cultures it was based on. And although Volo may have done a lot of research, he still didn’t completely understand ancient culture. It’s bad because Volo made it himself. His outfit was flawed just like his ideology. It is his own interpretation of a culture that he had idolized without truly understanding that this great and ancient culture crumbled. And based off of the architecture of the ruins and temples, it never even reached a prime before it fell.

But Volo thinks its correct/cool/accurate. He is being a fool about it because he didn’t understand the bigger picture and had become consumed with this desire for power and control. This as an idea is really cool and I find it funny that you can also wear the outfit. Its essentially mocking him. If we look at the outfit in this light, the design was a success in getting us to dislike it and evoke this distaste. We didn’t know why, but this is why.

SO IN SUMMARY, OUTFIT WAS BAD ON PURPOSE. It wasn’t thoughtless, in fact there was a lot of research behind it and yet that seems to be thrown out to simplify the design in a way that looks like someone hand made it based off of what they had put together themselves.

But this isn’t my favorite part of the concept art. My favorite part is the hands.

Look at his hands. Why are they in those positions? Wouldn’t it have been easier to create more standard poses? To me the hand gestures here are just too specific. So I started digging around for what they could be on a Art history level. I looked at Non Christian art first and then Christian symbolism within their mosaics, illuminated manuscripts, and paintings. And I found some verrrry interesting similarities. I am not trying to make this religious. I just found some interesting similarities between old Christian art and Volo’s design. Which makes sense if we go back to this Greek/Roman influence because these cultures eventually converted to Christianity. And Arceus is kind of a weird goat god Jesus.

The left hand is where the biggest symbolism is. Basically, this hand gesture has been used to indicate “the hand of god” or the “hand of justice”. Christ sometimes is draw with a similar hand position and could be a sign of the cross, but this would also refer to some sort of divinity. I will also note that Volo is in no way making the classic “blessing” hand gesture.

As for the right hand he is making what I assume is a Greek/Roman orator (speaker) gesture. This would mean that Volo is calling for attention. Note, that I didn't’ compare this to prophets. That’s because orators speak for themselves and prophets for god. And Volo thinks he is god.

Under this context, in the concept art Volo is essentially saying “I am God”. If we add the symbolism of his outfit, it only further solidifies this idea. Volo’s outfit/concept comes together and screams “behold, I am god , the hand of justice. I will be the creator or the new world”. Which is so freaking clever because that’s literally what he tells you.

Sure his hands are switched and lowered compared to actual real world art examples (thank you Game freak for not throwing in actual religious symbols/gestures), but I think the intention is still there. It’s so good that I am mad. So as much as I hate this dumb outfit, I cannot deny that it was well thought out, that the character was well thought out.

To conclude, these are my assumptions. I am not an expert on art history or religion. If you have further insights on this feel free to share. I’d be interested with what others had to add. I the end this could all be wrong and just crazy for overthinking the designs of a pokemon character, but it just seems too intentional to be carelessly thrown together. This is just one possible interpretation.

Though its just more evidence in my mind that a lot of love and care went into developing Legends of Arceus. Despite their limitations and resources.

#volo #arceus #pokemon legend of arceus #legend of arceus #giritina #art history #temple of sinnoh #i can finally rest after typing up this mad assumption #sunny speaks #a special thank you to my friends who heard me ramble about this #and thanks to game freak for actually doing research for their games #its not perfect but an effort was made #pla

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strawbubbysugar · 1 year

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So(u)l Chapter 1

A soulmate daycare attendant x reader slowburn!

Disclaimer: it/its pronouns are used for the daycare attendant until he achieves sentience! Here's the AO3 link to read it there as well! https://archiveofourown.org/works/48206098/chapters/121564951#workskin

Busy. Busy busy busy, always so busy. Never even a moments rest to stop and think- not that it needed an entire second, a laughably long amount of time. Jeremy was trying to eat glue. Tasha was shoving a dirty sock from the ball pit into one of the generators littered around the room- as if they weren’t already enough of a fire hazard.

It was lucky it was so quick, so ready to jump into the candy covered sticky fray. It was even luckier that it was a computer, a robot designed specifically for children. Maybe not designed for this specific job, but it performed it well. It took pride in it, as much as an artificial intelligence could, and even moreso knowing that all of its knowledge and expertise in this area was learned through experience rather than it being loaded into its artificial brain. It was advanced. It was incredibly advanced, far moreso than any other technology outside of the fazbear corporation.

A learning, growing AI, worth millions of dollars, and now with one hand holding onto the labelled seam of a toddler’s pants, dangling them from where they’d attempted a jump off the highest height of the jungle gym. The other hand was holding back an eight year old, who was beginning to realize that they were too mature for the daycare and acting out to prove it as they attempted to peel the safety foam off the sharp corners at the top of the structure. Its feet were being used to hold himself to the gym, hooked into the criss cross patterned grating and providing it just enough leverage to remain opposed to gravity.

If it had core muscles, they would be straining at the effort. At the moment, all the straining was a result of its desperate attempt to not drop either child, nor use too much force and accidentally hurt them.

Its foot slipped slightly, ever so slightly. Not enough to make it fall, but enough that it knew that scenario wasn’t far off. Its mind ran a hundred thousand calculations a millisecond, before it finally calculated the best choice.

It used the hand holding the back of the older child’s shirt to yank them towards it while simultaneously throwing the toddler up up UP into the air. It did a spinning cartwheel off the structure, using both it’s hands to launch the older child into the ball pit as if he were a basketball, hearing him land with a scattering of hollow plastic balls. Finally, it hit the ground with a duck, a roll, and a bounce to stand back up. Holding out its perfectly engineered hands and-

Poomf!

Catching the little one with time to spare. The fluid, lifelike robot beamed and wiggled ite finger over the child’s nose, earning a giggle before it put them down and sent them on their wobbly way.

“Remember kids, the top of the structure is off off off limits!” It announced, its million dollar smile bright and cheerful, it’s voice so full of life you wouldn’t know it didn’t have one.

“Mr Sun!!” Two of the children screamed, in a tug of war over a stuffed Chica.

“Hello, friends!” It smiled at them, bounding over in far fewer steps than it would take a human, thanks to its incredibly long legs. “Are we playing nice and sharing our toys??”

One of the children shook their head quickly. “Billy isn’t letting go of MY chica!!”

“I saw it first!!” He retorted, tugging on the doll again. The animatronic faintly heard the sound of seams pulling taut.

“But I brought it from home!!” The little girl whined. “Mr SUN!!”

It gently patted both of their heads, crouching down to get closer to the both of them. “Amanda, you brought your toy from home, so you get to decide if you want to share it! Billy, Amanda is very upset, so do you think you could find a different toy??”

It’s voice remained as bouncy and excited as ever, even while crouched down trying to calm down a situation. Billy scowled before tugging on the toy again, and even Amanda could hear the ripping now. She screamed in terror at the idea of her toy being broken, pulling back harder in a vain attempt to retrieve it. “NOOOO!!”

It scanned the situation, running through calculations before coming to its final option. The last one before simply lifting up the children and physically separating them.

“Whooooo wants a sundrop!!” It held out two round little orange candies, magicked out of thin air from behind the children’s ears.

They stared for a moment, but only a moment before the toy was dropped and the candies grabbed eagerly. The daycare attendant lifted up the toy, depositing it in Amanda’s arms. It reached over into one of the many piles of toys surrounding the daycare and pulled out a Monty plush, plopping it into the arms of Billy. “There we go! Now we both have a toy!”

It’s wide smile beamed as it squinted it’s optics in a show of approval. Both children seemed at least satiated with the end result- both with a toy and a piece of candy, before running off in opposite directions. It stood up and surveyed the room, looking for the next challenge to tackle.

The child who had been dunked into the pit finally dragged himself out, throwing a plastic ball at the attendant’s head in indignation that his plan to ruin safety codes had been thwarted.

The ball whizzed towards the animatronic, with surprisingly good aim for a kid of that age. Aim didn’t matter however, when the daycare attendant had sensors in the back of its head. It’s torso turned before his head and caught the ball. When it’s head caught up, rotating to face him, it beamed his same, static smile at the boy.

“Oh ho ho, Lukas!” It chided, voice loud enough to fill the entire daycare with ease. It used its foot to kick two more balls that had been scattered along the mats into its hands, and began juggling them. “Throwing things is not permitted in the daycare! Unless of course we’re playing catch- but I don’t remember agreeing to play!!”

As it walked over to the boy, it continued to scoop up balls, juggling them even as the number of them became more and more unfathomable to be kept in the air all at one time.

Lukas folded his arms and huffed, turning and sitting on the edge of the ball pit. He paused until he knew the attendant was close, mischievous little grin worming it’s way across his face. By the time the attendant was close enough to roll the balls off its shoulder in a graceful slide back into their designated place in the pit, he had a new plan.

He threw himself off the edge of the ball pit, sliding between the attendant’s legs and booking it for the structure. He knew the attendant had difficulty maneuvering inside of it, though it wasn’t impossible. He’d have to be quick to make it through. He had no real goal, of course. He was here until his mom came for him at four.

But getting that dumb robot all tangled up for a few minutes would be compensation enough for having been interrupted during his brooding on top of the structure.

The robot feigned being startled as it was slid under, having seen the boy’s muscles tensing long before he actually moved. Its programming urged it to allow the children small victories over it- to improve their self confidence, and their growth. It gasped dramatically, throwing every ball it was juggling into the air at once and letting them pelt it as they came back down.

Several children who were watching giggled at the display, enjoying watching the oldest kid in the daycare really stick it to the man. Er.. the robot.

The older kids knew the robot wasn’t really alive. He was a toy, meant to watch over them while their parents were at work, or with their older siblings in the gigantic pizzaplex. He was like .. an elf on the shelf. He couldn’t really do anything to you, but he could tell your parents if you had been naughty, and that was often more than enough to deter them from bad behaviour. He played games, sang songs, told stories, did arts and crafts- he did it all!

Almost like a real person!

Lukas had, at this point, been sticking out his tongue at the attendant from the slide, teasing and making rude gestures.

The attendant’s array of yellow points, surrounding his head like a halo of sunshine, flattened back slightly. It’s programming censored the rude gesture for it, but it knew that it was against the rules. Rules that it took VERY seriously.

“Lukas! That is against the rules! Please step out of the-!” It peered up into the tube that the boy had disappeared into, whirring clicks filling the plastic tunnel as it tried to pathfind the best way to handle this situation.

It was frozen for a fraction of a second before deciding to follow him. It knew the boy was trying to get it to follow, but that’s what it was here for. To play! To follow the rules in order to keep order and structure to the fun, to play along, and to keep humans safe were the pillars on which its AI was built. It was harmless to follow, and would only serve as a lesson to the boy when he was caught to not break the rules.

It crawled into the slide, on all fours, almost spider-like as it ascended. “Luuuukaaaas!” It called, in a sing-songy voice, completely oblivious in any bit of its coding as to how terrifying this situation would be to a child. “Rulebreakers don’t get to keep playing, they have to go in TIME OUT!”

It reached the end of the slide, crouching as it scanned the area. It found the bio signature near instantly, though with a moments hesitation. He was using the generator as a mask to hide his body heat- clever! It added that note to Lukas’s file to compliment his mother on when she came for pickup. The parents were usually much friendlier to it after it complimented their children. Not that their nervous looks and barely hidden discomfort around it bothered it. It was only a machine, after all.

“Come get me!!” The child teased, sticking out his tongue as he peaked over the generator. Warning signs flashed in its mind, red boxes and triangles covering his view. This was dangerous. The generators weren’t safe to play around.

“The generators aren’t toys, friend!” It spoke slowly. “Let me get you somewhere more fun, then we can-“

As it reached over the generator, it knocked one of the thick connecting cables loose, already having been on its last legs from being fiddled with by tiny hands. A large arc of electricity crackled in the air, and the lights in the daycare flickered. The generator practically jumped into the air with the force of the kilovolts being pushed through it, kilovolts which connected with the attendant’s metal frame and engulfed it.

Lukas watched as the attendant was flooded with electricity, artificial eyes flooded with static, and rays spinning so quickly it was creating a breeze. Arms twitching and hands opening and closing, legs spasming- Maybe this hadn’t been the best idea after all. If he broke this thing, his mom was sure to kill him. Or at least, take away his video game privileges.

Eventually, the lights in the daycare returned to normal, the generator that had been over-conducting calming down as its brothers rerouted the power to themselves and shut it off from their system. Now that it was powerless, the attendant was free to recover.

Smoke rose from his body, eyes black as his power cell had forced a shut off to avoid overload. It had done so too late, unfortunately, and he had crashed.

His systems slowly rebooted, coming back online one by one.

Good Morning, Sun!

The text beeped in front of his eyes before disappearing shortly after, the usual wake up he received after a hard reset, other than the startup systems diagnosis running in the background. He blinked slowly, purposefully.

That had.. hurt.

It had hurt?

It had hurt.

Why had it hurt? He’d never hurt before. He could feel things, thanks to the wiring under his silicon, to give him the ability to judge touch and pressure. But he’d never hurt. He’d also never considered himself a he before. Why was he thinking that now? Why was he thinking anything? He didn’t usually think, not much anyways, not consciously. His thoughts were command tasks in his computer brain, not thoughts- thoughts like these. Like this one right now. And this one! And this!

He felt himself begin to panic. What was happening to him? What was wrong? Was he broken? Oh, no! If he was broken he’d have to-

Fear flooded his system. Confusion, then panic, then fear. Not the most fun first three emotions to feel.

He raised his hands and gripped his rays anxiously, before patting down the rest of himself. He didn’t FEEL broken. Not physically at least. Maybe the jolt had fried his software- would he need it replaced?? Would he-

He froze again, a swirling spinning mess of all these terrible feelings, not even noticing as the little instigator slipped his way past him and down the slide back out of the structure again.

He was too busy thinking about himself, now. Himself. A new concept.

If he’d needed to breathe, his chest would be heaving. And it did. His artificial breathing, meant to make him even more like a person, had caught up to the news of their sudden autonomy, and began shuddering as he fought to catch his false breath.

He was only shaken out of his stupor when he heard a voice in the back of his head. One he heard constantly- that he knew as intimately as he knew himself. It WAS himself. Or at least.. it had been.

When he wasn’t awake, it hadn’t mattered that the moon program was separate from him. They were the same body, providing the same functions. It was the same as switching browsers. You still got your results.

But now.. now..? Now that little voice, those little lines of code that ‘spoke’ to him.. they really were speaking to him. The voice they’d programmed for moon, to be softer, to be easier to hear before bed, echoed out in lines of code that translated themselves into speech.

Sun?

Sun paused for a moment. That was his name, wasn’t it? Sun. It was his. He’d never thought about his name before- it had almost been as much of a title as daycare attendant. It wasn’t his, it was what the children called him to get his attention. No, no. That was his name. It was his. He decided firmly in that moment. His first real decision- one made on his own. On purpose. By choice.

..Moon..?

He sent out his own strings of code in return, hesitantly, carefully. As if responding would break the spell, the beautiful and terrifying curse they seemed to be under.

After a few long moments, agonizingly long, he received a pinged response.

This is new.

#fnaf #fnaf daycare attendant #y/n #fnaf sun #fnaf security breach #fnaf moon #fanfic #fanfiction #au #fan fiction #soulmate au #soulmates #chapter one #so(u)l #daycare attendant x y/n #so(u)l fic

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rikeijo · 3 months

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Yuri!!! on stage pamphlet, Kubo Mitsurou - Character comments

Katsuki Yuuri

The character of Katsuki Yuuri, previously still vague, solidified in the scene in episode 4 when he touches Victor's hair whorl. That scene is also one, where I managed to express an idea I've had in my head for a very long time - I wanted to show something like a moment not connected to the main story, when their relationship changes, but not in a logical way. The same thing can be said about the scene in the last episode when, even though Victor is crying, Yuuri pushes aside his fringe and says "So you cry too!" - Yuuri has this very primal (原始的) characteristic of putting his own curiosity first before feelings of the other person, that's a desire he can't suppress. I think it was our intention to use this characteristic to make the viewers expect that he is surely going to act in a way they cannot predict. Throughout the series, Yuuri's character was shaped by misleading the audience to think they know Yuuri's personality and then showing them in each episode that they were not right about him. That's why the character turned out to be much more complex that we thought he would be in the first episode and I think the viewers can sense that the creators had a lot of fun writing him. We sometimes say that the characters are acting on their own, but in this case I think we were writing the character while being bossed around by him.

Victor Nikiforov

Just as it was with Yuuri, I couldn't fully grasp Victor's personality in episode 1, and so his character also solidified over time as I was writing the show. Beginning with the scene in episode 4 when he told Yuuri "I'm not going to hold back" during their conversation on the beach, and then when he was "really hurt" after Yuuri touched his hair whorl, little by little the underlying kindness Victor possesses started to show up more, as even though he had no idea what Yuuri was really thinking, he wanted to get to know Yuuri better and Yuuri to get to know him better too. Actually, I also thought the fact that even staff members couldn't fully comprehend Victor's actions made him all the more charming. Because his actions were impossible to comprehend, the audience too has been watching the show without being able to form any strong assumptions about him and the sense of insecurity you've been getting while watching him was probably also a sign that you started to like the character... I've created Victor by trying my best to draw a cool and beautiful human being. I don't think however, that he could ever be mine. Yuuri also feels this way, but in Yuuri's case he was able to form a very strong connection with Victor thanks to skating. I was writing the show while thinking that I'd like the audience to enjoy the feeling that in every episode, together with Yuuri, they too get to meet Victor they've never seen before, as the relationship between Yuuri and Victor is forming - relationship that was only possible because Yuuri had skating as an excuse [免罪符, it means something like "get-out-of-jail-free card" - funny word choice, but Mitsurou really pushes here the idea that Victor was way out of Yuuri's league. ]

Yuri Plisetsky

In case of Yurio, his character as well as character design were very clear from the very beginning. He was very easy to write. He is my favorite type of character and based on my experience I was sure he's going to be popular. He is the type of a side character, who can outshine even the main character in terms of popularity, so I was careful not to make him "angsty" by e.g. giving him a tragic past or making him have a difficult family situation. With Yurio I didn't want his character to be someone who gets popular because people feel sorry for him, so I gave him family and coaches, as well as new friends, and wanted to show his strength by making him achieve even greater success while being in a relatively good place emotionally. I think I've managed to use the basic manga trope of writing about a strength of found family instead of real family without focusing on the tragic aspects of this trope.

Christophe Giacometti

Chris was born as an ultra sexy character, a character who is very aware of his "eros" and at the same time has the strength to not care when other people stare at him. I decided on the visual side of the character first - I gave him those curled and long, stunningly beautiful eyelashes because I wanted the audience to think: "How grateful we are that such a beautiful skater exists in this world at the same time as Victor!". I also wanted to show the gap between his super cute look with curly hair when he was a child and his present look and suggest that a lot of growing up happened there. While I was writing him, or I should say it was more thanks to the choreography and music we created, the charm that was radiating from him was neither masculine nor feminine, but simply Chris' charm. I personally wanted to make him a "skater who looks good naked" and was having great fun writing him.

Phichit Chulanont

With Phichit, I was aiming to create a pure and energetic person. I've actually heard Thai artists active abroad saying that they want to show everyone the new face of Thailand and also that there are certain aspects of Thailand they were only able to see after they went abroad. So, I felt that young Thai people right now are really making a lot of effort to reconstruct themselves, so I wanted to make Phichit a person who has the spirit to create new things. With the fashion he wears, I was aiming for something Harajuku-like.

Ji Guang-Hong

I've come up with this idea of a Chinese competitor, young but with good skills, as a counterbalance to the great number of overwhelmingly strong competitors who appear in the show. I wanted to make him a character who shows all the signs of becoming terribly good in the future if he continues to gain more self-confidence and experience. When it comes to his personality I was imagining him following the latest trends, like all the modern kids do, or maybe traveling to the USA off-season to train at the same rink with Leo, for example. I intentionally didn't make him really stand-out, because I think he is still at a stage before he can bring out his individual personality.

Jean-Jacques Leroy

Before we even started to think about the story, I effortlessly came up with lines like "JJ won't give up! He can't give up!", so JJ is the character who has already been well-defined even before he was created. We placed a very rough order for his song: a song which feels like it was written by somebody who could win a Grammy. The request we've made for the lyrics too wasn't all that specific but the finished lyrics were well... absolutely amazing! I wanted to make JJ into a character who would make the spectators sing that song while he skates his short program. He is too egoistic, so other competitors who can't get along well with him, simply can't get along well with him, period. He isn't the type who can become friends with everyone. However, he doesn't really care. I wouldn't say that he for sure isn't hurt at all by this though, if you look deep inside, but one of the incredible things about him is that he doesn't let it show on the outside.

Georgi Popovich

We aimed to express different kinds of love and here is the type of competitor who puts all the emotions he's experiencing after he broke up with his lover into his performance. I was thinking that maybe in a country like Russia nobody would have a problem with him doing something like that and so I gave him this kind of artistry, different than the artistry Victor has. And again, also compared to Leo, he's a different type of artist. Georgi is very serious about practice and listens to what his coach says too diligently. But I think he loves himself the most, more than anyone else. He is a narcissist, so he loves his lovers very much too, because they love him. I think that's why he reacts with this "I am the one who can protect you!" thing after he gets dumped. The ability to transform all these feelings into a performance is his strong point.

Nishigori Takeshi

Nishigori was created because I wanted to introduce a point of view of somebody who has gave up on skating. He is also a childhood friend of Yuuri and somebody, who has been watching him from a very close distance - so he's a character with a quite complex setting. He is the only married man [in the show] so I wanted him to be masculine and not somebody who fret over things a lot. I also was thinking that the reason why Yuuri didn't want to go back to his home town for such a very long time, is because of Nishigori and Yuuko. When it comes to Nishigori and Yuuko's relationship, I think Yuuko is the one who started it. She didn't confess her feelings directly but I think it was probably very clear that she likes Nishigori. Because men from Kyushu don't go after a girl who they know they don't have a chance with. They never try to reach a "flower that grows high on a mountain top [an idiom representing a unattainable goal] (laugh).

Leo de la Iglesia

Leo, who was looking up to Victor, is the only competitor who choreographs his programs by himself. He wants to leave no doubt that he is self-producing his programs - he wants to skate his own choreography to the songs he likes to truly bring out his own charm. When it comes to figure skating in the USA, there is a lot of strong competitors in different parts of the country and so there are also skaters of different races. I think there is that conviction that to be able to show your own strengths in these conditions, the most important thing is to express the "I'll be saved by the things I love" core part of you. Leo can't for example jump quadruple jumps yet, but instead he wants to find his other strong points and show them - I wanted him to be a strong person in this way.

Minami Kenjiro

A skater who just made his senior debut, Minami-kun, was created because, just like Yuuri looks up to Victor, I wanted other Japanese skater to look up to Yuuri and Yuuri to be aware that there is somebody who looks up to him. Yuuri had a very bad start at Nationals, so Minami has already won with him once, but I thought I wanted another active competitor to tell Yuuri that he wants Yuuri to continue skating. And so I gave him this pure personality, the kind that Yuuri doesn't possess, so he can yell "I will definitely win with you!". Because of that, he became a character like a classic shonen manga protagonist. And because he has the vibe of anime protagonist I also gave him a matching haircut. I created him feeling that "If Yuri!!! was a shonen manga Minami would definitely be the protagonist".

Otabek Altin

He is a stoic, rugged and serious skater. A type of man who doesn't go to gatherings with other skaters. He left his family and was moving from country to country throughout the course of his training, so he had to wait a long time for a breakthrough. While training, separately from skating, he was also making friends among local musicians, so he has a lot of companions, who are important to him not only in Kazakhstan. He is the type of person who you can trust. He doesn't talk much and doesn't use social media much. But somehow you feel that he can for sure make a lot of progress. He also has this idea to do things that other people don't do. That's why I think that [since he started till the moment we meet him in the show] he's been treating skating very seriously. Otabek is more of a warrior or a soldier than an artist. I see him as this kind of person, who respects competitors who aren't on a level playing field with him and he treats them like comrades-in-arms. That's why, after he met with Yurio at a summer camp and saw his strength, he decided to find his own style of fighting, other than ballet, and he never forgot Yurio, who also had a soldier-like dream.

Michele Crispino

I think Michele loves his sister too much and that's why he doesn't really want to change. He has the skills and skates very good. That's why he managed to get to the GPF and is a very strong competitor, but there's also something missing there and he can't really break through. I wanted to show that his love is of a different kind than the rest of the cast's. I think the kind of love he has for Sara is a little bit different than familial love, but well I think that in his mind Sara is the only person he can trust. But Sara herself thinks she needs to change. I wanted to highlight this change by making Michele a tough/traditionally masculine guy. I was thinking that I want him to use the emotions he has because of his sister to have the break through even if these emotions are not necessarily positive. It was fun writing him.

Lee Seung Gil

SeungGil says pretty harsh things and has the most athlete-like mind of all the skaters. The pressure he is under is huge so, as the real athlete he is, to protect himself from being influenced by this pressure, he doesn't do any fan-service. I think that he is simply a stoic competitor, but because during interviews he says things like: "Is it really necessary for me to answer questions like that?", people misunderstand him and tease him for being cold. The story that I was thinking about for him is that he competes with this stoic attitude, but he knows that if he doesn't become more expressive, he can't win, so he chose a song and costume with an element of surprise. I think this gap is where his charm is. I think he, in his everyday life, isn't interested in things other than skating and usually wears clothes his mum bought for him, or jersey.

Emil Nekola

There are a lot of characters who stand out, so I wanted to design one, who doesn't, and instead simply has a sunny disposition and is like a younger brother or the kid in a group. Skaters from Czech Republic are popular so I thought that it will be a good match to his personality if I make him Czech. The image I have for him is that he is friends with Michele and is the kindest person among European skaters. I was thinking to make him "a big guy who you can depend on". He is very good at physical activities, so I think if, in addition to skating, if he decided to do snowboarding or extreme sports he would be pretty good at them too. He himself isn't really fixated on skating and has a lot of other things he likes to do. But right know he is focusing on skating. That's why, unlike Michele who is like: "Skating is the only thing I have in my life", Emil has a very good way of dealing with the pressure - he is a clever guy.

Closing comments

The things to enjoy while binge watching all episodes

At the end of ep 10, it was revealed that Yuuri at the banquet actually asked Victor to be his coach. If you re-watch the show from ep 1, while having this in mind, the relationship between Yuuri and Victor will surely appear very different. In the beginning of ep 1, when Victor ask Yuuri "Do you want a commemorative photo?", to him Yuuri wasn't someone who really stood out from the crowd. But then, he watched the video of Yuuri skating a perfect copy of his "Stammi Vicino" program, while having some prior knowledge of Yuuri from the "be my coach accident" at the banquet. And as the story goes, because of that Victor's got certain ideas and decided to travel to Japan. If we look at the events from Victor's perspective, it must have been very weird for him, because Yuuri himself asked him to come, but after he came Yuuri met him with this "Why are you here…?" reaction. I think you should be able to enjoy the story even more, if you change the perceptive you watch the show from when you re-watch all 12 episodes at once.

To fans…

I think without both the fans who were supporting us and the staff members who participated in production, we wouldn't be here today. I can't thank you all in person, but we are thinking of doing something, so you can enjoy the world of Yuri!!! even more, as a thank-you gift. I'm looking forward to your continuous support of Yuri!!! on ice.

#yuri on ice #yoi_full translation #tr_kubo mitsurou

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svt-kiki · 1 month

Text

( 🖇️ ) 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 ⌅ .

as of august, 2024

3RD GEN IT GIRL ! 𓂃 .⠀࣪*

　unlike today’s 4th gen idol, kiki hadn’t gathered popularity immedietly after the debut. yes, she was known as her unmatched dance skills, but most people recognize her just because she was a only female member among the group, or the very first japanese female idol in kpop industry. in addition, many people thought she would dissapear from the group or public in couple years, because of her quite unique ‘position’ and concerns that were already in the group itself.

　however — surprisingly, she didn’t leaved the group. seventeen didn’t disband. no one never leaved the group. kiki started to blooming each year, step by step, like jun once said. is she a late bloomer? probably. but the flower she made was the most unique and sparkling art piece. now she understand her strongness, the charisma, and the possibility to become the main character not only in the room, but even nation and generation. she knows what she doing, she understands the elements and assignments, and lots of brands and designers love her because she pay attention to deatils and willing to study its history. or, world just can’t help but falling in love with her.

　　　　　　　　　୨ৎ　—　𝟣𝟫𝟨𝟩 (𝖾𝗌𝗍.) 　

　　　　　　　　›　𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐏𝐇 𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐍　‹

ambassador　oct ‘19 -

global ambassador　mar ‘22 -

　guess what, she’s a human ralph lauren ! she has that preppy, old money aesthetic by nature. RL is the brand that gave his attention to kiki much earlier than others, and they build the special connection to each other. ralph treats her as their main issue since she pays attention to details of craftsmanship, history and collections. there is no doubt she’s a face of brand.

　　　　　　　　　୨ৎ　—　𝟣𝟫𝟦𝟫 (𝖾𝗌𝗍.)

　　　　　　　　　　›　𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐒　‹

ambassador　sep ‘20 -

global ambassador　dec ‘22 -

she is a hard worker. it’s never easy to be the only female member among the mostly-boys big band. she trained herself to build her body so that she could complete the tour and live concerts with boys, and she was known for having a disciplined personal image for the public. she does dance a lot, work out a lot, so kiki is the perfect choice for the face of brand. she launched the limited collaboration line in summer, 2023 with the brand as ’kiki x adidas’ including track suits, sweat shirts and sneakers and it sold out within a day.

　　　　　　　　　୨ৎ　—　𝟣𝟫𝟧𝟫 (𝖾𝗌𝗍.)

　　　　　　　　　›　𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐎　‹　

global ambassador　mar ‘22 -

her first achievement with grand maison ! mostly, she represents the later collection and aesthetics by valentino garavani himself in later 90s to early 00s. it’s needless to say that she’s the first kpop idol who associated officially with the brand, and that indicates that valentino taking her seriously. kiki drew attention especially her in recent ‘black tie’ collection. and even pierpaolo piccioli admitted she’s one of the inspiration ! suit and black tie are always her signature look, so it’s natural for them to chose kiki as a muse. although she has a contract with the brand, valentino hasn’t forced her to wear their piece every time.

　　　　　　　　　୨ৎ　—　𝟣𝟫𝟨𝟪 (𝖾𝗌𝗍.)

　　　　　　　　›　𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐈𝐍 𝐊𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐍　‹

global ambassador　apr ‘23 -

since she appeared in spring 2023 campaign, the famous jeans & underwear brand fell in love with her. not only jeans and underwear ( well she wasn’t comfortable to wearing just a pair of underwear in ads, so just a sport bra under the jacket that covered her cleavage ) but kiki loves the brand’s classic, sophisticated minimalism in 90s, pulled out vintage and archives and wear it in on and off. she has the class, and it looks really good on her.

　　　　　　　　　୨ৎ　—　𝟣𝟪𝟦𝟩 (𝖾𝗌𝗍.) 　

　　　　　　　　　 ›　𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐑　‹

global ambassador　sep ‘23 -

　carats found out suddenly she appeared in the big billboard in the major cities around the world, wearing gold iconic jewelries, taken with a model in the same picture with relaxing expression. yes, it was the surprise announcement of kiki as a new face of cartier. she was known for using cartier watch for long time, carries two or three of it whenever she goes to oversea schedules, collecting some vintage watches. she is an ambassador for watch and jewelry. her favorites are standard tank louis with black belt and gold frame, and the love bracelet.

　　　　　　　　　୨ৎ　—　𝟣𝟫𝟩𝟪 (𝖾𝗌𝗍.)

　　　　　　　　　 ›　𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐀𝐂𝐄　‹

global ambassador　apr ‘24 -

　trust me, they are highly frustrated when valentino snatched her right under their nose lol. they have been inviting kiki to the collection since 2022 and they wanted her as an ambassador so bad. her persona as an idol and performer matches with brand’s lavish and luxury color so well ( speaking of her natural personality which is soft, calm character is ... maybe not so much ). she was thinking her presence would be a bit overwhelmed for versace’s couture like clothing would own her more than she owns it... but kiki became a woman who fits with their aesthetics more and more as she becoming confident as a ‘star’. as of april 2024, maison finally announced her as the face of brand with introducing kiki as an ambassador in new versace icon campaign besides cillian murphy and anne hathaway.

𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐆𝐍 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋 !

　　　　　　　　　୨ৎ　—　𝟤𝟢𝟣𝟣 (𝖾𝗌𝗍.) 　

　　　　　　　　 ›　𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐒　‹

campaign model　sep ‘22 -

　　　　　　　　　୨ৎ　—　𝟣𝟪𝟫𝟪 (𝖾𝗌𝗍.) 　

　　　　　　　　　 ›　𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐎𝐖𝐀　‹

campaign model　sep ‘23 -

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐒 !

　　　　　　　　　୨ৎ　—　𝟣𝟫𝟩𝟤 (𝖾𝗌𝗍.) 　

　　　　　　　›　𝐘𝐎𝐇𝐉𝐈 𝐘𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐎　‹

　he is indeed the one of the most greatest, phenomenal designer in the japanese fashion history. his first company that established in 1972 “Y’s” is under the concept of “women wearing men’s clothes”. it doesn’t remind someone? well, if there’s an one person who can go well with concept the most, it’s her. maybe kiki was the embodiment of the spirit he was looking for long time… and after all these years, she finally appeared in front of him.

　　　　　　　　　୨ৎ　—　𝟣𝟫𝟨𝟫 (𝖾𝗌𝗍.) 　

　　　　　　›　𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐒 𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒　‹

　now you can see kiki clearly has a passion for legend designers in japan… and the monochrome haha. rei kawakubo, the founder of the brand is also a big name in japanese fashion history like yohji yamamoto. their couture collections esp in 90s are still so odd, new, fun and refreshing to watch in present and she’s there for it. now carats literally betting what brand she will wore on her first met gala and come des garçons is a powerful candidate alongside these big names. ( aka carats are CRAVING for she goes there and makes fashion moment in the history because they know the girl won’t waste the opportunity )

also, she would love to work with thom browne, miss sohee, le fame, tanakadaisuke, and robert wun.

( 📁 ) : NAVI : MASTER LIST

( tag list ) : @smh-anon @jennwonwoo @angie-x3

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mangledskull · 2 months

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Sote rewrite concept- What if Godwyn was the final boss?

My thoughts on the dlc below, along with my thought process with this design (loooong text incoming)

Thoughts on the boss

I have my gripes with the final boss. My main issue is how weirdly inserted Radahn is. Unless I missed something, there was absolutely no connection between him and Miquella in the base game. In my opinion, it felt like it was somewhat…forced? if that makes sense?

When I found out that beating Radahn was a requirement to enter the dlc, my first assumption was that it was because he was holding the stars back. I had thought that Miquella was in the same boat as Ranni, that being their fates were being held back by the stars.

Radahn being revived to be Miquella’s consort was the LAST thing I would have expected. It was jarring as hell for them to make that choice. Just let Radahn rest ffs

My take

This may be a preference thing, but I would have loved to see more Godwyn in the dlc. He was quite literally one of the most important people in Miquella’s story, yet it’s almost as if he’s non-existent. For one, Castle Sol is an entire area that tells the story of Miquella attempting to revive his lost brother. Where the hell did that plot line go??? I can’t see Miquella giving up on that so easily, he’s shown to be very determined to achieve his goals.

It would have felt far more impactful to see Miquella continue with this fruitless plan. To see him go far and beyond to bring back his brother. Miquella’s goal to become a god would make a little more sense in that regard. He’d sacrifice his body, his Great Rune, and his love to save the people in his life. At the cost of becoming what he wanted, he would no longer be the person everyone knew him as.

Anyway, why am I using Godwyn as the final boss? Well, I had the idea that instead of Miquella reviving Radahn, he would try to resurrect his long gone brother. The whole consort thing could still take place (even though I hate it), and Miquella would make him his lord. However, all that Godwyn is, is just a zombified husk of his former body. His soul is gone. Dead. The game makes this very clear. However, would Miquella truly care about that? He’s gone so far in his plans now, that he won’t see the fatal flaw in reviving him. It’s no different than him reviving Radahn, I’m 100% sure that he has no soul as we fight him.

Design choices

As you see here, I’ve used Godwyn’s corpse as the main inspiration. I find the body horror of him to be absolutely fascinating. There is absolutely no one else behind those eyes. Another gripe I had with PC Radahn is how little there is of Mohg in his body. Other than the horns on his braces and the one blood flame move he has, it isn’t obvious in the slightest. For my design, I made Mohg’s influence slightly more obvious with the abundance of horns.

As for his weapon, I went with a trident! There’s no official weapon he wields base game, so I chose this based off of assumption. I like to believe thatafter befriending the dragons, he would learn their lightning incantations. Perhaps he wielded a spear/trident in their honor, and he could specialize in lighting magic. I mainly stuck with trident because it fits with his ocean motif.

That’s all that I have for now. I love everything about this dlc (especially Marika’s story) minus the final boss. This is all sorely my opinion. If you like the boss, that’s great!! This is all mostly made for fun, I honestly just wanted to make a Godwyn design.

#mangledskull #my art #artists on tumblr #elden ring #elden ring discussion #elden ring fanart #rewrite #shadow of the erdtree #shadow of the erdtree discussion #elden ring spoilers #elden ring dlc #godwyn the golden #godwyn the prince of death #promised consort radahn #miquella the unalloyed #miquella the kind

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whencyclopedia · 4 months

Photo

Operation Chastise

Operation Chastise, the 'Dambusters' raid, was an attack by a squadron of RAF Lancaster bombers on the dams of the Ruhr basin in Germany in May 1943. Led by Squadron Leader Guy Gibson, the bombers breached two dams causing enormous flooding in the valleys below, disrupting industrial targets and killing at least 1,300 civilians.

Although the damaged factories, coal mines, and bridges were soon repaired, the mission showed the value of precision bombing by specially trained crews, diverted German resources to air defence, and reinvigorated Britain's position amongst its allies.

Objectives

The Ruhr basin in Western Germany was saturated with important heavy industry. These factories, many vital to the steel and armaments industry, were dependent on the water and hydroelectric power supplied by a series of massive dams. If Royal Air Force (RAF) bombers could breach the dams, the consequent floods would put the factories out of action. In a single mission, the same destructive result could be achieved that otherwise would have taken 3,000 bombers two weeks of bombing the factories directly. So vital was this area to the German war effort that RAF planners had considered it as a prime target before the war broke out in 1939. Operation Chastise was about to make these tentative plans a reality. Secondary aims of the operation were to deal a blow to German civilian morale and show both the British public and Britain's allies Russia and the United States that something was being done to take the war to Germany.

Five dams were targeted, but three were a priority: Möhne, Eder, and Sorpe. A second group, depending on the success against the first group, were Lister, Ennepe, and Diemel. The RAF knew that Möhne had air defences, and it was likely the others had, too. Möhne and Eder were concrete and, designed to withstand the massive pressure of water, immensely strong structures but relatively slim targets when seen from the air. Möhne, the primary target since a breach would directly flood the factories below (not the case with Eder), was the longest dam in Europe at 120 ft high (36.6 m), 25 ft thick (7.6 m) at the top, and 112 ft (34.1 m) thick at the base. The Möhne reservoir contained 140 million tons of water (Eder had 200 million). These dams were protected by two rows of anti-torpedo nets. Eder, much further to the east, was the second choice because it was concrete, although there were no military targets in the valley below. Sorpe was strategically more important than Eder, but because it was made of largely compacted earth, the effect of bombing was anticipated to be less. The destruction of these dams and others would require a completely new kind of bomb.

#History #AirMinistry #BomberCommand #Britain #WHE #[#]

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koishiro · 1 year

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Pussy power | 방탄소년단

↳ SUMMARY: having to teach the lowest and failing class in school, you have to find a way to keep their attention and their grades up but it won’t be easy

↳ PAIRING: students!min yoongi, jung hoseok, park jimin, kim taehyung, jeon jungkook x teacher!reader

↳ GENRE: smut with plot (smut is shown in part 2)

↳ CW/S: reader fingers herself, mentions of porn, age gap

Part 1 | 2

main masterlist | kpop masterlist | upcoming anon asks

It had been another awkward and difficult day for me at school and teaching the class I had been allocated this year was positively heart-breaking. There were 5 boys and 6 girls, all of them 18 years old. The boys ranged from Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung and Jeon Jungkook. Every one of them an under achiever and apparently not interested in anything I had to teach them. Only government regulations, designed to keep them out of unemployment statistics, had kept them in educational systems for so long. Due to these new rules they had been made to repeat their final year, but, at the end of the current school year they would have to leave. Every one of them would undoubtedly flounder in the tough world of the jobs market.

And the bottom line was - they weren't interested. They were, in fact, the left - overs after all vacancies in the other classes had been filled. I remember the head - teacher gently patting me on the back and asking me to do my best.

"They’re a lost cause, Y/n, but, we still have to go through the motions. Meanwhile, because of staffing problems, apart from Science and Art, I'm afraid you have to cover most if not all of their subjects yourself”

I remember groaning at this news. I suppose it was because I had been the last teacher to join his staff. I had gotten the short straw.

And so I tried. Day after day, week after week. Surely, they couldn't be as bad as they’d been portrayed, I told myself. But, the sad looks and sympathy I got for my lack of progress from the Headmaster and fellow teachers told me otherwise.

It was frustrating and painstaking work every day. I was lucky to be heard, such was the noise and disruption in that classroom. It was an unending struggle and my pupils and I were going nowhere, achieving nothing. I was at my wits end in trying to get through to them. It was so exhausting and depressing. They were the most unruly and inattentive group of young people I had ever come across since I had started in the teaching profession some 5 years ago.

The trouble was that, previously, I had worked in private girls schools in London, where discipline and attitudes were vastly different. But, when I was transferred to Korea, I had limited choices. Apgujeong High School was where I had ended up. It was different to London and the South East. In this part of Korea the economic situation was tougher and job opportunities more difficult to find. It would have been an exaggeration to say the school was in a deprived area. But it was getting that way. The school catered for all pupils in the area of secondary school age. Some of them, same age as my lot were doing their CSAT’s. But obviously there was a big difference in abilities.

Ideally, my target as a teacher was to bring these youngsters up to a basic and acceptable standard, so they could leave school with at least some qualifications, but, up to now I was failing miserably, even with a relatively small class like this. I couldn't think of any one of them succeeding. They would be leaving school with not a single school exam success between them. What chance did they have at obtaining decent employment. As things were going, I was heading for a clean sheet of failure for my efforts. But, I didn't like failure. I had come into the teaching profession to succeed.

"Don't you have any ambition; don't you want to do something with your lives?" I cried out in despair one day. They looked at me in amused silence. I might as well have been talking in a foreign language. All they wanted to do, seemingly, was to quit school and go onto unemployment benefits. Most of them lived in run down areas and were from broken homes etc. In fact, I knew very little about their personal lives. There had to be some real communication between us to do that. And so far, there hadn't been any.

Talking to colleagues in the staff room - more specifically Namjoon, one of many biology teachers - , I was warned that my pathetic efforts to make some progress were being monitored by the powers that be. "Don't blame the old headmaster; he said he's under a lot of pressure from the higher-ups. Also, he thinks we are due for an OFSTED inspection soon.”

"Do you think I'll be sacked?" I asked, worried. "Could be" Namjoon said. "They have the power to do it and they like to make an example of somebody every now and then. It makes them look good" And, at the very least, I knew that bad reports on my abilities would blight my career.

When I went back to the classroom, I was starting to panic. As usual there was mayhem in the room. If anything, this lot were getting worse.

Jungkook was trying to aim a paper airplane into Taehyung mouth, Hoseok had launched Jimin onto his shoulders - now spinning in circles and Yoongi, well, he was dead asleep at the back of the classroom.

What was I going to do? I had tried everything my teacher training had taught me and was getting nowhere. It was beginning to be a nightmare and I knew that in this case there was no light at the end of the tunnel.

One frustrating week later, I had an idea; funnily enough from watching a silly little porn film. I liked to watch them every now and again, especially after an extricating day of handling those brats. Anything to calm the pent up aggression I had.

In one of them, a young and attractive brunette teacher started to strip. Funnily enough, I thought she looked a lot like me. And, of course, she got the immediate attention of the young males in her class. After that, inevitably, she got fucked across her desk by all and sundry. It was to be expected, I suppose. After all it was a porn movie.

Normally, I would have gone out of the room or made a coffee while I wait for the plot to actually get somewhere but, there was something about her being in a classroom that got through to me. Unlike other films of that nature, the acting was good, it seemed very realistic. I watched it again and again when I had the chance, watching her getting it from the boys. Sometimes, I stripped at the same time she did, and then compared my naked body to hers. I was pleased to see I matched her in all respects, because, I too had long shapely legs, decent size tits and curves in all the right places. Could I do that? Strip in a classroom? I started to seriously think about it.

Then, later, after watching it several more times, I was convinced that it was the perfect answer to my problems at this school: An unconventional and risky solution, yes; but why not? I could challenge the boys in my class to work hard and pass exams on the promise that I would strip for them. It seemed like a really good idea.

Of course, I knew that none of them were bothered enough to make it, but, (and this was the important thing) they would at least make an effort to study and learn. My working life would be tolerable again. It was the old carrot and stick routine. The carrot being the prospect of seeing my naked body, the stick being the work they would have to do to make it happen. I reckoned it was worth a shot. It was my last hope really. Of course, I didn't tell my friend and colleague Namjoon about my bright idea. In fact the fewer people who knew about it the better and I had to keep that firmly in mind.

I picked a time, purposely; when the girls were absent, to make my pitch. Two or three times a week they had netball or cookery sessions and that suited me just fine. The only female left in the class on those occasions was me. The guys as usual were inattentive and noisy, talking among themselves, telling dirty jokes and trying to outdo each other in being the biggest nuisance in the class.

I was well and truly fed up with this sort of thing. I left my desk and went to stand in front of the class. I was wearing one of my shortest skirts that day, deliberately so.

"WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO DO A STRIPTEASE?" I shouted.

Immediately, there was a complete and deathly silence. It had got their attention alright.

"What was that, Miss," Yoongi, who I had noted as the oldest amongst the group and the local slacker who’d usually sleep through class, said back.

"I said... how would you like me to do a striptease for you."

It took a moment for what I said to register in the silence of the room.

"YES MISS," was the loud response seconds later.

I could tell they were astounded by my announcement.

"Will you show your pussy, Miss," Another - Jimin, the known ‘fuckboy’ of the school - sniggered and then everyone laughed. Dirty laughs. They were onto a subject they liked and discussing the teacher's pussy was a real turn-on.

"Of course I will," I said.

That shocked them. There was stony silence again. In fact, you could have heard a pin drop. Now I was getting their full attention. Something that was very rare indeed.

I continued, gaining more confidence by the second.

"When I say naked, I mean naked, you all know what that means don't you?"

"Yeah" Jimin said brazenly, "it means we get to see tits, legs, pussy, everything!”

"Are you shaved, Miss?" Taehyung, the loudest of the group, asked. More like sniggers.

"Well, you'll have to wait to find out, won't you?" I said huskily.

There were shouts of "WHEN, WHEN" before Hoseok spoke up. He was sort of an unofficial spokesman for the class.

"Is that a definite promise then, Miss? Can we hold you to it?" He must have thought I'd gone out of my mind.

"Yes," I said. "It can actually happen. It's up to you." There was more shouting and talking as the boys got excited. They hadn't expected a topic like this for their afternoon in class.

Just then my voice began to falter. For some reason I was nervous. I suppose I was imagining standing there before these 5 youths without a stitch of clothing. Could it actually happen? I went weak at the knees.

Pull yourself together, woman, before you lose control, I told myself.

They were talking in whispers now, dirty talk, talking about me; discussing my physical attributes; she's got great legs, big tits, I had heard similar things before, enough to realise that the boys rated me, quite high as a sex symbol in their eyes. My throat went dry. I grabbed my glass of water and swallowed. Somehow, I managed to talk again.

"Yes, I know you would like that," I said..."but, and there is a big but."

"Oh," went a disappointed moan from my audience.

"I knew there would be a catch Miss," said Jeon Jungkook, the usual boisterous teen - almost as bad as Taehyung. Almost.

"Well here's the thing," I said, "all you have to do to get me to perform for you is work at your studies and pass some exams. It's as simple as that; because, believe it or not, I actually WANT you to succeed. So much so, that I am prepared to do this for you. I am prepared to shame and humiliate myself by sexily stripping and exposing my naked body to you guys at the end of term”

"Yeah, we get the bit about the stripping, Teach, but what exactly would we have to achieve in order for you to do this?"

It was Min Yoongi again and it was a very good question. Unfortunately, he had caught me out as I hadn't thought it through enough.

"Well that could be the subject of negotiation between us" was what I said. I had to say something or they would have switched off.

In the end, I agreed that I would do it for any boy who achieved a grade C level. (That was generally accepted as a decent grade and one that that employers recognised)

My heart started to pound as I wondered whether I had set the bar high enough.

"Is that in any subject," asked Kim Taehyung. One pass in any subject? They were all very interested now. I could tell.

"Okay then," I agreed, “We can go with that”

My heart started pounding again...

"What about a sample Miss, to see if it would be worthwhile"

"What do you mean?"

"Show us a bit of leg like”

"Alright," I said, "I can do that”

So, I looked at them sexily and lifted my skirt up my thigh. Every single one of them was leaning forward, focusing hard on my legs. Some of them even got out of their seats to get a closer look. Very slowly I eased my skirt further up to let them see more; You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. Strangely enough, I was beginning to enjoy myself. And for once, I had these guys in the palm of my hand. I had found a magic formula; the power of sex.

"That's just a taster," I said as I let my skirt drop "And it's all you're going to get until the main event”

"What about the girls?" asked Jimin, "are they going to be in on it?"

"No" I said emphatically, "this is just between me and all of you guys here. I am the only female involved and I want you all to myself. It will be our secret. Nobody outside of this room gets to know, because, if it gets out, I will be prevented from doing my striptease act for you. And I would be so disappointed if that happens"

I was making it up as I went along now. But, for the first time I wondered if I could actually go through with what I was promising.

Yoongi spoke up. His sheer no-bullshit attitude demanded attention and respect from the other boys.

"Anybody snitches and they'll end up in hospital," he said, showing off his clenched fist accompanied with a glare.

"Yeah, I'll back that" said Jungkook, making me suppress a smile. He was cute but he wouldn't frighten anybody.

"Yeah, me too!" Another shouted.

That spread and within seconds all the guys had vowed themselves to secrecy under pain of death.

"Will it just be a quick strip then Miss, cos that'll be over in a minute or two, won't it?"

Yoongi had caught me off guard again. Just as it was all going so well.

I had hesitated and he was in like a flash. Maybe, I had underestimated his intelligence.

"Well what more do you want me to do?" I offered.

I suddenly had an image of the naked Miss Lushbody - the pornstar - and felt an erotic shimmer pass through me.

"I dunno," replied Yoongi, "maybe a kiss or a dance; something like that"

I was so grateful that nothing crude or suggestive had been shouted out that I readily agreed to Yoongi’s suggestion.

"We should write it down," he said wisely, "work something out”

The class were with him. "Yeah that sounds fair and reasonable," Hoseok agreed.

Down to the last man they voted that in: A committee of five. They had never agreed on anything before in my recollection. At least it was progress.

"You agree, Miss?"

I gulped, as I remembered Miss Lushbody getting ravaged by a group of males over her desk. I went weak at the knees again. "Alright," I heard myself say in a squeaky kind of voice that sounded dangerously like female submission. But, what the hell was I agreeing to?

"I'll draw something up," said Yoongi taking control.

I opened my mouth to say something, but, nothing came out. I had lost the initiative and others were taking control. So, I found myself standing there, prettily, like a dumb Miss Lushbody.

My heart was beating so hard I started to get dizzy. And, how I managed to finish the lesson and get out of that classroom I will never know. But, essentially, I had pulled it off. Things were in motion.

.☆.

From Day one, after our arrangement, everything changed. It was as though I had built a fire under them. All noise and chatter suddenly ceased; it became a thing of the past. Disruption was a no-no. Now they listened to every word I said. I couldn't believe the change. I was on cloud nine as homework was dutifully handed in, discussion and debate was intelligent and generally to the point.

But, if I had been under any illusions as the reason for this change, Yoongi put me right on that, one day after class. "It's lust what's done it Miss. They all want to see you strip naked”

"Oh" I said." Well ...we're all looking forward to it then" (What else could I say?)

Weeks went by and the progress was nothing short of amazing. Even the half dozen lazy girls were caught up in it. They didn't know anything, about what had been agreed of course, but, the atmosphere in the class was conducive to learning and that had benefited them. The boys were shushing them every time they started to talk.

Then Yoongi gave me the written paper. He said all the guys had agreed on it.

I started to read it on my lunch break in the staffroom, but, quickly decided to disappear into the ladies. I didn't want anyone else to see me with it. In a cubicle, I took off my skirt and started to read. I was shocked; it was a boy's charter for sexually exploiting their nieve teacher. No wonder they were all working like demented beavers.

I was to strip, yes, that was still in there, but now, I had to remain naked until they gave me permission to put my clothes back on. They wanted a real good look at my naked body.

My imagination ran riot, and, before I knew it, my hand was reaching inside my panties seeking out my pussy. Whose fingers would get me there first, I wondered, Yoongi, Taehyung, Jungkook? It could be a gang-bang.

Ironically, it was the best piece of written work they had ever produced. Proof that they could actually write. And, some intelligence there if I was not mistaken.

My conclusion was that if enough of these boys achieved academic success, they would definitely be trying to take liberties with me. That seemed to be the bottom line. But, maybe I was worrying unnecessarily. Academic geniuses they were not and passing exams for them was a tall order, given their school records.

Not wanting to think about it anymore, I put the document down. "Why don't you just let the boys sort it out," a little voice in my head seemed to say.

And, this particular dizzy teacher continued to masturbate, instead, now concentrating on her sensitive clit. I couldn't remember the last time I had done this at work. It must have been the subject matter I had been reading about that was making me hot.

I sighed happily and leaned back on the toilet seat, my panties were off by then and my fingers busy...I was thinking of Jungkook...so cute and also of Yoongi, yes Yoongi, my favourite...oh, oh. My pussy was so wet...

Time slipped by...

I looked at my watch, Jesus! How long had I been in here? Jumping up, I thrust their paper into my bag and put my skirt back on. My panties were on the floor and sopping and I just threw them into the waste basket as I ran out. Goodness, what would my friends and colleagues think of me, if they knew about this deal with my students.

When I got back to my class, they were all watching me. I knew what they were waiting for. They wanted my agreement to what they had written.

They waited until the girls went to cookery. That was my cue. Was it a green light or what? They wanted to know. If I didn't agree to what they had drawn up I knew that the deal was dead. We would be back to the dark days of mayhem, disruption and frustration. I couldn't face that, but, on the other hand, I was risking well...what was I risking? It didn't bear thinking about...

"Well Miss, what's it to be?" Enquired young Kim Taehyung, impatiently. I felt five pairs of eyes on me. Then my heart was pounding again, my throat dry as dust. I tried to speak but nothing came, I was feeling the pressure. Then, I heard that squeaky little girl voice again, coming from my own throat. Despite myself, It was the clear, but, unmistakeable, sound of female submission. "Okay, we can do this" my voice confirmed. My silliness in the toilet had all but destroyed my reasoning power. I hadn't even read the damn thing properly.

They all roared. It was a sound that had resonated through the ages: A mix of male triumph and lust over the female species. It made me go weak at the knees.

Of course, they made me sign it; I wasn't going to be left with any escape route. They wanted to pin me down; their own signatures were already on it: Participants in lust and desire. I read each name of my possible masters and visualised what they might do to me, I closed my eyes and felt an erotic shudder shiver through my body :-

Min Yoongi, Park Jimin, Jung Hoseok, Jeon Jungkook and Kim Taehyung.

They were all hoping to get a piece of me. First the full strip and then, well, there would be kissing and such, and, no doubt, anything that horny adolescents had in mind. And, I couldn't complain because initially it had all been my idea. That was until they had taken it over and ran with it. At the time, it had seemed like a bit of harmless fun, something to get them going. I was sure it would never actually happen. But the guys were in control now, and had adapted it to suit them. It seemed much darker and sinister now. I should have objected and refused to go along with it. But it was too late.

My fate was now in their hands.

Part 1 | 2

Date posted: 17/08/23

𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵

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